With No Kissing The Deck

By Groundie
June 3 2009

MTWD is proud to boast a match report from Groundie, the Uxbridge groundsman, who can provide unique insights into the game. Sadly, Middlesex's performance left little room for profound insights, but that is hardly Groundie's fault. He promised a 170ish wicket and, as usual this season, the oppo exceeded par and Middlesex undershot it by miles. But many thanks to Groundie for this report.

Middlesex v Hampshire T/20 at Uxbridge CC, 2nd June 2009.

The importance of a successful Twenty/20 game to a club like Uxbridge cannot be underestimated. Financially in difficult times for all sporting clubs, this could mean the difference between break even and a big annual loss. We are extremely fortunate that Middlesex continue to support us.

A match against Hampshire CCC is always interesting for me. A few years ago my son and I were Hants members and regular visitors to Northlands Road. Gone however are the days of Mark Nicholas’s wonderful sides including the Smith brothers, Gower, Marshall, Terry, etc and of course a certain Shaun Udal, tonight’s Middlesex captain.

And so to the match, for which we have been preparing for the past two weeks. Expectation throughout the day was high; there was a buzz around the ground, anticipation that this could be the night Middx stood up. By 4.30pm, it was clear the Middx faithful were going to support their team as a good crowd gathered in blazing sunshine. Hants won the toss and had no hesitation in batting.

The captain took a wicket in his first over and all looked good. Carberry and Ervine unfortunately took the game away from Middx and despite good performances from the spinners, 181 was a large score. Perhaps the biggest interest amongst the ground staff was the sweepstake for the innings total, ranging from 152 to 210.

The Middx openers got a start but the innings never gained the necessary impetus required and wickets fell at regular intervals. Dawson bowled a good spell and Ervine completed a fine match by mopping up four wickets.

Go ahead, Sean, bayonet the wounded, everyone else has!

Unfortunately the batting was a like the ice-cream, soft.

As a club, it is over to the financial staff now to declare whether the income will allow for a new mower for September.

Let’s look forward to getting back to LVCC cricket as soon as possible.