Actonians Cricket Club

Scorecard

Actonians Cricket Club Under 15's Girls v Richmond on Thu 11 May 2023 at 6.00pm
Actonians Cricket Club Won by 16 runs

Match report *** Introduction ***

On 11th May the under 15s opened their season against Richmond, and produced a game which should live long in the memory of this cohort of players, parents and coaches. Played under fast-moving grey cloud and with rain a constant threat, the game finished in a deepening Gunnersbury Gloom at just after eight-fifteen. Richmond had lost some under 15 players to Middlesex training, while Actonians only had one under 15 in our squad. For three-quarters of the game Richmond were the better side : not a different class sort of better, but better enough to be heading for a comfortable win. Actonians batted first in difficult conditions and posted a score of 82 which seemed 15-20 below what was needed, and when Richmond reached 52-1 in the 9th over the home side seemed to be minutes away from a defeat. But Actonians had fought obstinately and skilfully and 20 minutes later, courtesy of an amazing hat-trick from Valeria and great support from the other bowlers, had won the game by 16 runs.

*** The Game ***

As is often the case, the build-up was dominated by nervous and gloomy conjecture about the weather. For three days before the game the Met Office weather map showed heavy rain probing in and around the area to the north-east edge of the M4 : the rain probed for and found gaps, never quite consolidating its position but never quite going away. On the day of the game itself the probability of rain in the Actonians area during the game varied from 20 to 60%, but by 5.30 had settled at a dispiriting 80%. Now the Actonians ground has a surprisingly wide aerial view for a city venue, and as the game officials put out the stumps and boundary flags, we could see that the bands of raincloud moving rapidly from the east were skimming south and north of the ground. There was a brief burst of drizzle between the two innings but, apart from that, the game went uninterrupted by the weather.

Traffic delays meant the start of the game was deferred. Amongst other things this meant Emma, who was travelling cross-city from a school match was able to make it to the start. Well done and thank you to her for playing two matches in a day. The sides agreed to start at 6.15 and to reduce the match to 18 overs. We had a full team with Riya as captain, but she was the only under 15 and with the under 12/11s providing half the players, the average age of the team was 12.4 years. Richmond have had the better of the exchanges in recent years, winning 4 out of the 5 previous girls games, and we felt they started as slight favourites. Actonians won the toss and chose to bat, a decision which was to prove to be of some importance as the light receded late in the game.

Richmond bowling was brisk, consistently accurate and achieved movement off the pitch and in the air. Unusually for this level they had a leg-spinne and she wasa real handful. The bowling posed a real challenge for our batters, who found it hard to find gaps on a regular basis. The scored ticked over at around 4-5 an over but the inning struggled to gather a powerful momentum. As we tried to force the run-rate there were several heart-in-the-mouth moments as the ball was skied just out of the reach of the fielding ring, and it was no surprise as wickets eventually fell. Abbie and Emma were both caught for three and Valeria was bowled for 2. With the score at 22 for 3 in the 6th over, and with three of the four experienced batters back in the pavilion, Actonians were very much on the back foot. Riya was caught shortly afterwards, but was reprieved when the Richmond umpire called a waist-high no-ball. The 4th wicket partnership between Riya and Alice steadied the ship and added 38 runs. Apart from a couple of fours by Riya most of the runs at this stage came from singles and a handful of wides which meant the impact of this partnership on the game took a while to become apparent.

Richmond continued to limit opportunities for big-scoring shots, and as Riya looked to accelerate in the later stages of the innings she was out LBW for 20. Sienna forced the pace with a mix of sharp running and shots probing the gaps. Alice was run out for a creditable 8, and Sienna was bowled having scored a rapid 6. Freja kept Sienna company and then partnered Andrea. Playing four years above her age group Andrea bravely came in and lasted a couple of balls. When she was bowled in the final over Actonians were all out for 82. This was a creditable score in tricky conditions against a consistent and accurate attack. Six of Richmond’s seven bowlers took a wicket which was an indication of their strength in depth. They had also fielded well, a couple of unforced overthrows being the only noticeable errors.

In 2022 and the early games of 2023 our bowling has probably been stronger than our batting, but 82 was still a smallish total to be defending against a side as strong as Richmond. To have a chance of winning Actonians needed to fight and compete for every run. Alice opened the bowling with a tight over which finished with four dot balls and set absolutely the right standard. The Richmond openers looked like they had the potential to take a game away from the opposition in no time, but the tightness of the bowling and the tenacity of the fielding prevented them from quickly claiming a decisive advantage. Riya bowled one of the openers in the second over, the early break-through which is crucial in a situation like this. Actonians needed more wickets reasonably quickly but the second wicket partnership of the opener and No 3 steadily took the score past 50 in the 9th over. Abbie was keeping wicket effectively, and the team kept their energy and shape in the field and a steady flow of encouragement to the bowlers : but a couple of LBW shouts were turned down and there was at least one near-miss runout, and as the ramshackle old Actonians clock moved to 8.00pm Richmond were a couple of big overs away from finishing the game off. Looking south from the square leg position on the Baronsmede side of the ground, we could see bands of cloud heading west from the Chiswick bend of the Thames. Precipitation shafts showered down in Strand-on-the-Green and Brentford, but were too far south to pose a late threat to the match.

Valeria was introduced in the ninth over, the last of the five players to bowl that night. She took a couple of balls to find her sights, but she was probably the quickest of the bowlers in the game and the overcast conditions saw her getting late swing. With her 4th ball the RIchmond opener was out LBW for 24. She had probably been the most effective of the batters on both sides, and Actonians now had an opening. In the next over Riya bowled Cara and with 8 overs left, Actonians needed 4 wickets against Richmond’s 27 runs. The implications of the decision to bat first were now apparent as Richmond now had new batters who needed to adjust to the fading light.

Valeria was back for the 11th over and 6 balls later had transformed the match with an exhilarating hat-trick (one LBW and two bowled). Displaying genuine speed and late swing she was virtually unplayable and by shortly after 8.00pm the game was now Actonians to lose. However the last wicket partnership for Richmond did not go quietly and they determinedly added 9 runs in the next couple of overs. We had little more than 20 minutes before sunset and while Valeria’s third over was as menacing as the first two, the batters kept her out, and Richmond now needed 17 to win off 5 overs. Alice opening over had set the innings off in the right direction, and she now returned and with her first ball knocked over the stumps. Actonians had won by 16 runs.

*** Post-Match ***

This was a memorable game. Richmond are sporting and competitive opponents, and they have also had the better of our exchanges having beaten us 4 out of 5 games in the last three years. They had lost some players to Middlesex training, but our under 15 squad is very young (half of the players being below the under 13 age group). For the bulk of this game Richmond were the stronger side and at 52-1 in the 9th over of their innings they seemed to be heading to a comfortable win. But our players were chatty and encouraging in the field, maybe not as loud as they could be but voluble all the same. They bowled accurately and fielded with real determination. Andrea’s direct hit was one of several excellent interventions from long-stop and typified the fielding performance. On several occasions accurate bowling from Actonians was met by a well-crafted shot which was well-stopped. As a result, while Richmond were in pole position we had managed to stop them from running away from the game. It was this determination which earned the late turnaround and made this into such a brilliant game. 9 times out of 10 a side will lose from this position, but it is occasions like this which will stick in the memory.

Valeria’s bowling was memorable and deserves the player of the match. A shout-out should go to the whole bowling and fielding unit whose hard work gave Valeria a chance to turn the game.


***** Thank you and well done *****

Tracy Ashby for scoring
Kate Winter for helping set-up the pitch
Richmond for being sporting opponents
The weather for holding off
Emma for coming half-way across London after a school game.
The whole team for their commitment






Actonians Cricket Club Under 15's Girls Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
8nb 22w 7b 2lb 
for 7 wickets
39
82		        
Riya Patadia lbw Ailsa 20 2
Abbie Winter ct Afrah Bld Lara 3
Emma Weel ct C&B Cara 3
Valeria Barrocas La Femina b Winnie 2
Alice Stone run out Lara 8
Sienna Walji b Neharika 6
Freja Davies-Baker Not Out  1
Andrea Barrocas La Femina b Jemima 0

Richmond Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jemima Bowman3.1012112.003.79
Lara Fulton3.0012112.004.00
Cara Hughes2.00818.004.00
Winnie Griffiths2.0014114.007.00
Neharika Shenai3.00818.002.67
Ailsa Gingell2.00515.002.50
Afrah Sait2.001400.007.00

Richmond Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 12w 7b  
for 7 wickets
21
66 (13.1 overs)		     
Neharika Shenai lbw Valeria 24 3
Jemima Bowman b Riya Patadia 4
Cara Hughes b Riya Patadia 11 2
Annabelle Maskell Not Out  5
Afrah Sait lbw Valeria 1
Lara Fulton b Valeria 0
Ailsa Gingell b Valeria 0
Winnie Griffiths b Alice Stone 0

Actonians Cricket Club Under 15's Girls Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Alice Stone2.10818.003.69
Riya Patadia4.001527.503.75
Sienna Walji2.001300.006.50
Emma Weel2.001700.008.50
Valeria Barrocas La Femina3.00641.502.00