Morden lost the toss, fielded first and drew the game.
J.Goddard 14-0-67-2 P.Smith 8-0-45-0 I.Tyne 4-0-34-0 P.Leischman 9-0-45-4
Name How Out Bowler R B M 4 6 A.Lewis Greggor 8 31 29 P.Bodman ct.bkwd point Greggor 9 23 40 P.Leischman ct.Powlesland Avery 81 64 81 13 2 N.Brooker Pulling 4 17 29 S.Alexander Avery 21 35 44 4 J.Goddard ct.long on Avery 27 34 39 4 K.Bromley not out 6 17 37 1 M.Coote not out 0 0 1 I.Tyne P.Smith Extras (b.4,w.7,nb.12,lb.4) 27 Total for 6 wickets(30.2 overs) 183
FOW 1-20, 2-39, 3-75, 4-139, 5-143, 6-178
Ten man Morden earned a respectable draw in this high scoring affair on the top pitch at Cheam rec. 193 is the second highest total that Morden have conceded this season, whilst 183 is the second highest total that Morden have scored this season. It was also the third highest score that the Club has made in it's history batting second.
On a very hot sunny day, the visitors decided to bat first, but lost one opener to John Goddard in the first over, caught behind by Neil Brooker which was his first catch for the club on his 14th appearance. After this however, runs came quickly and when the second wicket fell in the 9th over, the score was 39-2, with Steve Alexander taking a catch at mid off, for John's second wicket. A century stand followed, ending when the other opener was run out for 71 in the 27th over, thanks to quick work from John and Paul Leischman, a debutant from New Zealand. Paul bowled well at the death and picked up 4 late wickets as Chertsey threw the bat in the last few overs. John missed a possible 'caught and bowled' chance near the end, but made up for this by combining with Paul again to achieve a second run out as Morden worked hard to keep the score below 200. Ian Tyne took his first catch since August 2003, Neil added a second catch to his tally and Paul caught one off his own bowling.
After tea, Ahmed and Phil opened the Morden innings and both were dropped at point in the first few overs, before Ahmed was eventually bowled for 8 in the 8th over. Phil was then caught for 9 in the 10th over. Neil was then bowled for 4 making the score 75-3 in the 17th over. At this juncture, Steve Alexander came in to join Paul who was already 40 not out. These two formed a great partnership during the next 40 minutes, adding 64 runs for the 4th wicket...a new record for this season. Paul achieved his 50 off just 40 deliveries, taking 55 minutes including 10 fours. He was eventually out in the 27th over at 139-4, having scored 81 at a run a minute facing only 64 balls hitting 13 fours and 2 sixes. This represents the 21st highest score ever by a Parish batsman and makes him only the 33rd player to have scored a half century for the club. Not a bad debut! Unfortunately, Steve was out later in the same over, but his score of 21 was his highest of the season. This left the John and Karl with the target of 51 to win off 8 overs. John proceeded to hit 3 fours off his first 5 balls as this pair made a great effort towards a third victory of the season, but the Chertsey skipper, who had brought himself onto bowl, made it very difficult with some accurate bowling, as did the opening bowler who had been brought back from the other end. John was eventually out, caught at long on just inside the boundary for 27 off just 34 balls, which actually took him past 500 runs for the club in his 55th match. Matt Coote came in for the last few balls of the match, and although he didn't face any of them, he was delighted to finish 'not out' for the first time in his 25 games for the Parish. So in the end, Morden finished ten runs short of the visitors total, and had to settle for the 4th draw of the season.
Stat of the day; can anyone remember the last lbw to be given in a Parish match? You'd need a good memory. Amazingly, 409 overs have been bowled since a player on either side has been given out lbw in a match involving Morden Parish. (Surprisingly, Tyno gave the last one!)