Saturday August 30

Well, we ended the season on a bright note, just as we started it. Shame about some of the mid-season matches.

Yesterday Rick tried to get rid of his title of "T" by winning the toss and opting for a bat. Yet again he fell to an LBW decision after an opening stand of 30 with Brunchie. Next to go was Brunchie himself just as he was starting to dominate the bowlers with three lovely boundaries in his knock of 17. We then had a stand of 71 between Neil and Stylo, with Neil going for 32 and Stylo later on for a brutal 76. Paulg (Getty?) hit a very sweet 38 off just 41 balls, and partnered by Herbie who finished on 47 not out, his second 47no of the season.

So with a final total of 242-5 we went in to tea in an optimistic mood. Purbrook lost their first wicket with just 15 on the board, but a Burridge old boy Billy Hunter tried to rain on our parade with a defiant 34. Their middle order put up some resistance with Jamie Mitchell making 54, with the help of being dropped twice.

The bowlers stuck to their task with Shannon taking 2-26, Herbie 3-35, Gubba mopping up the tail with 3-65 - but the mean PaulG only gave 20 runs away for his 10 overs. I think it worth pointing out that Paul has bowled 144 overs this season, going for just 2.84 per over. A remarkable season for him.

Purbrook were eventually bowled out for 190, and we shall not be seeing them next season as they have been relegated.

Man of the match - tight decision, but PaulG gets my vote.

On a much sadder note, it is with much regret that Neil has decided to call it a day, and retire from cricket. We will miss him. He first started playing first team cricket with Gosport when he was just 12. This was when Gosport were a very strong team in the top tier. Mick Swain the Gosport captain at the time saw something with Neil and felt that he would mature as a good club cricketer - how right he was. At the time Gosport were a team that was very hard to beat, they also had a genuine opening fast bowler by the name of Jenkins - yes that's him, the Burridge boy, who sadly is another one who has retired. Over the years Neil has scored about 20 Southern League tons, and over 5,000 runs. He will be missed.

Good Luck to Neil and Jenks.

This week I am going to delete the use of the "T" word, but once again he lost the toss, and the visitors had little hesitation in batting.

Ventnor raced on to 40 without loss in the first 10 overs, then 3 quick wickets by Shannon saw them start to really stutter. Only a stubborn innings from their South African star Pongolo, with a solid knock of 58 and a very brutal short innings from Matt Holmes their No.10 who smacked 22 off just 11 balls, gave them a meagre total of 199 all out.

Shannon finished with figures of 4-42, with Herbie getting 2 and Stevie Williams grabbing 2 as well. Herbie also managed to effect a brilliant run out.

In reply, on what should have been an achievable target, we managed to put ourselves under immense pressure by Stylo crazily running himself out, and probably Brunchie and the rest of the players on the field would understand his wicket. At 39-3 from 12 overs, we were really going to struggle, Neil and Herbie tried to get us back on track with a partnership of 46, but sadly both went in a short period of time. In fact our last four wickets went for just 3 runs. We were all out for 105.

What this game showed was our amazing consistency of being inconsistent. Our record this season being - Won 8, Lost 8 with 1 called off.

Man of the Match - Shannon Mascarenhas, for what would look to be his best bowling of the season. Could, and should have had a few more wickets yesterday.

On an extremely cloudy day, when the forecasters once again got it all wrong by stating that we would have rain prior to the start, or at latest by 1800, once again our 'tosser' got it wrong - probably glad he did.

What more can I say about our opening bowling attack, it seems they do it every week, Shannon (10-0-30-2) and Nick (10-0-32-3) put us very much in the driving seat. With the opposition at 26-4, we learnt our lessons from the New Milton match, and this time kept the pressure on them, (this despite Shirls best efforts to take pity on them by dropping two catches - he had a miserable day in the field, compounded it seemed by the ball following him wherever he went).

Mention must be made though of Herbie's wonder catch, to dismiss their overseas player before he had got off the mark.

Their 6th and 7th wicket partnerships briefly staged a mini recovery, but a brilliant run out and a Spanish clean-bowl made sure it was just a temporary recovery. Havant eventually posted a meagre total of 163-9

In reply we got off to a poor start when Rick was cleaned bowled for just 7, but then Stylo came in like a hurricane and made certain their fielders would not suffer from the cold by having them chasing all round the field. He scored an extremely belligerent 56 in just 48 balls, which included 8 boundaries. Then Shirl came in and made amends for his fielding by steadying the ship after we had lost a couple of quick wickets. But the shot of the day must go to Paulg with his massive 6 over the cover boundary.

Eventually Burridge ran out winners by 4 wickets with a massive 10 overs to spare.

Man of the Match - Stylo

Oh dear, what is wrong with our consistency? Of the top 4 teams in the league, we have beaten the three of them.

On Saturday in a game that was threatened by the weather, we actually managed an uninterrupted game. (Interesting to note that after last year's fiasco with the weather, we have not lost a single over this year to the weather).

Rick lost the toss and no surprise Lymington decided to have a bat. Their first two wickets went down cheaply, both to Shannon, but then their coach and sometime Glamorgan player Rushbrook, once again took us to the cleaners, this time managing a mere 68 runs, but then their overseas player laid into us for a very quickfire 39.

Our opening bowlers once again performed well, and Sully got his mandatory two wickets per game. We limited the opposition to 220-8.

Once again our batsmen found life a little tough, the first three all falling to LBW decisions. Our total of 126 was just not up to par.

Man of the Match - Craig Shannessy

What a match!

Rowledge won the toss and decided to have a bat. They have a habit of racking up big scores. Our opening attack of Nick (10-2-38-2) and Shannon (9.2-1-38-4) really got amongst their top order. There was great delight when Nick and Brunchie combined to get rid of their overseas player for a meagre 13 runs. I noticed from their scorebook that the previous week he rattled up 145no against Havant, so we were delighted to see the back of him so cheaply.

At one stage Rowledge were teetering at 96-8, but a 9th wicket partnership of 69 between the veteran Chris Yates Snr and Nick Morant gave the Rowledge total a bit of respectability. Finally all out for 174.

Our response got off to a shaky start with our top three bats all going for a total of a mere 59. Then the teenage son of the Hampshire Cricket Coach, Sean Terry and our very own Herbie, Ian Hitchings put on an unbroken stand of 119, with Sean (12x4, 1x6) making 76no and Herbie (9x4) 47no. This ensured that Burridge would go away with maximum points of 22. Final score 178-3

On the day our fielding was very good, a remarkable improvement. Sully White continues to improve, and managed to get a couple of wickets again, and more importantly at a critical time when it looked as if they were putting together a useful stand. However this report would not be complete without mentioning the remarkable bowling figures of Paul Ancell, 10 overs 6 maidens, SIX runs and 1 wicket. Of the 6 runs that he haemorrhaged 3 were wides. A truly wonderful bowling spell.

Keep it up.

Man of the match - Paul Ancell, with Sean Terry a close second.

On a day when it threatened to rain, we managed to get an uninterrupted game in.

Rick won the toss and opted to bat first, when he and Brunchie did well to keep their wickets intact for the first 15 overs, but on a slow low pitch scoring was difficult. Their opening bowler Tim Wheatley obviously used to their conditions bowled well for his 10 overs, with 5 maidens and finishing 10-5-10-0.

Stylo then managed to get caught and bowled off the middle of his bat, I bet the bowler regretted it for a few minutes after, as Alex really leathered it. Shannon then managed to get out, bowled by a ball that seemed to be going underground as it was so low.

Rick received good support from Herbie, Fish and KP. The last 10 overs we managed 72 runs, with Rick blasting 4 sixes in that period, finishing with a superb 111 n.o.

When Liphook batted, they seemed to find life much easier, scoring 59-0 off the first 20 overs - but they had not reckoned on Herbie and Steve having a field day, with combined figures of 20-3-45-6. That really broke their backs. Herbie finished with 4-20 and Steve 2-25, not forgetting Sully White with his 5 overs for just 16. He is the future.

An extremely good win by 61 runs, just as icing on the cake, the 2nd's beat their 2nd's by 8 wickets. COTR!

Man of the match - Rick Ankers, a terrific innings.

OT & Romsey duly reversed the 7 wicket hammering we gave them on the first day of the season by replicating the result.

Rick won the toss and elected to bat. We managed what appeared to be a reasonable total of 233-4 off our allotted 50 overs. This came about by an opening stand of 74 between Rick and Brunchy, when for some inexplicable reason it seemed that neither batsmen could hear the call from the other and Rick was run out for 23. Brunchy went on to score a delightful 56, when it appeared he was set for a ton. This was followed by another run out, with Herbie being the next victim run out for 0.

Neil then joined Stylo and between them put on a partnership of 102, before Alex was caught on the boundary for 60. Neil went on to make 54 n.o.

When it was our turn to bowl, we were caught out by Charlie Forward having one of his countless good days. He tonked most bowlers round the park before eventually falling to Shannon for a belligerent 128 off just 124 balls. Both he and Max Smith (57) put on an opening partnership of 199. The pick of the bowlers being Nick McMurray with a 10 over stint that only went for 32 runs.

Sorry to say lads that the Man of the Match must go to Charlie Forward.

Hi folks,I apologise for the enforced absence during the last 3 weeks, due to my incarceration in QA Hospital, Portsmouth.

Down to business - during my absence the Team managed to win 2 matches and lose one.

Against Purbrook, they won the toss and decided to bat on what appeared to be a wonderful wicket - well done Gerry and crew. Purbrook got off to a reasonable start, scoring 33 in the opening 7 overs, then both openers went very quickly to Nick and Shannon. A 4th wicket partnership of 77 with Jason Richards, Purbrook's South African wicketkeeper and Jason Mitchell looked to give Purbrook a decent score, at one time threatening to score in the region of 250. Paul Ancell had other ideas, taking 2 quick wickets of their middle order. A final total of 214-8 was posted.

During the Purbrook innings, Neil (Shirley) managed to take 2 catches, but in the process pulled a hamstring. This meant he was not able to open the batting as usual so Rick opened with Brunchy. The opening pair got us off to a flyer, putting on 122 for the first wicket. A little bit of a mini collapse then took place, with Purbrook fancying their chances of sneaking a win. Brunchy though had other ideas, hitting a cultured 97 not out. I still think he sacrificed a ton for the team, by rotating the strike. Shannon Mascarenhas joined Brunchy and they saw us home with an unbroken partnership of 35.

A straw poll at the end of the game suggested that I should nominate Neil as man of the match, but to prove there is no bias, my man of the match is - Iain Brunnschweiler.

Let's keep the winning sequence going lads, as we play OT's next week.

This was always going to be a difficult match, and with both sides fielding a full strength side, it would have been a full on match. Sadly Burridge fielded a side with 6 first teamers missing, for a variety of reasons.

Brunchy the stand-in skipper won the toss and decided to have a bat. The experienced Neil Cunningham would be partnered by young Ben Lane as the opening partnership. Ben's claim to fame as a batsman was batting at number 8, so this was a completely new ball game to him. The day was going to get even worse as Neil was the first to go on 8, Ben then faced 93 balls before being dismissed for 12. However it is worth noting that Ben showed some very good defensive shots and a few scoring shots. Though at times he looked like a rabbit in the headlights, he showed enough on the day to indicate he has something of a future as a batsman. Needs to grow in confidence, which will surely happen after Saturday - but he must also learn to rotate the strike and put the fielders under a little bit of pressure. So well done Ben.

Brunchy then went for 25, followed shortly after by a tremendous blow to Burridge when Hitch had to retire hurt without scoring. Not only were we going to lose his batting skills, we were also going to lose him for his fielding skills and bowling - a genuine all rounder. However the senior player in the team came to the rescue as Paul Ancell along with KP put together a more than useful stand of 59, with Paul eventually being out for a well constructed 51. KP weighed in with 24. So we stumbled to 153-7.

Our turn at bowling was going to be fraught, with both our opening bowlers absent, plus the loss of Hitch, meant that the bowling was opened by 14 year old Sully White, (only 14 but he eats 5 shreddies for breakfast, Ian Botham would be proud). Although his 5 overs cost 29 runs, yet another youngster showing promise for the future. Rowledge, with the major contributor being their overseas Queenslander who knocked 89 before KP got his wicket via another youngster holding a good catch - well done Cameron White. Is this the start of the White dynasty?

Being hammered by 8 wickets was painful, so we have to pick ourselves up for next week's trip to Lymington, hopefully with a few first teamers back.

Signing off I hope that Hitch recovers from his injury and that we may see our skipper back and wish his wife the very best of wishes and that she gets well soon.

Man of Match - Justine Larrascy - Rowledge.

On a miserable cloudy drizzly day, we considered ourselves fortunate to even get a game of cricket on.

On winning the toss, we put the opposition in, and the usual tight opening overs from Steve Williams (4-22) and Nick McMurray (1-28) saw the opponents reeling at 25-4. What followed then was a nightmare of fielding slip-ups. Their number 5 batsman was dropped on 13,14,47,73 then went on to make 107. This allowed them to finish on 210 all out.

New Milton then showed what a good all round bowling side they are and bowled us all out for a meagre 86. They also showed us how to field and hold catches.

All in all a miserable day, from which we must sharpen up on our fielding and learn to hold onto catches.

Man of the Match - Steve Williams

Following last week's triumph at Romsey, we had our first home match of the season. Our opponents Liphook, won the toss and invited us to have a bat.

The weather pundits had got it all wrong, whereas we should have been going out to bat in brilliant sunshine, in fact it was extremely overcast, thus the ball was swinging a fair bit. As the sun had yet to break through, runs in the outfield were rather hard work, lovely cover drives that you would expect a boundary from were worth in most cases just a single.

Batting was always going to be extremely difficult, but the experience of Neil with a splendid 107 managed to get us to a respectable score of 225 for 7 wickets. The highlight of this innings was his partnership with KP which yielded 63 runs. Liphook did their best to help us as well, by bowling 44 wides.

By the time Liphook came to bat, the sun had now come out and of course made batting look easier - but a superb opening burst from bowlers Nick McMurray (10-2-28-2) and Steve Williams (10-0-25-1) made certain they were not going to be given the runs. First change brought on Fishy (Simon Creal) who put down a miserly 10 overs for just 28 runs. This brought in our "death" bowlers, KP (5-0-24-2) and Stylo (5-0-24-1).

A terrific run-out of their overseas player made certain there would be no victory for the opposition.

It must be said that our fielding and teamwork were a vast improvement on last season. Do you know, the players actually looked as if they were enjoying themselves? The umpires certainly did. For the second week running, the umpires have commented on the amazing turnaround in our conduct. Well done lads, you have remembered it is a leisure time activity.

Final score: Burridge 225-7 (20 points), Liphook 174-7 (5 points). Man-of-the-match: Neil Cunningham