RESULT - Stevenage won by 34 runs
It was a long wait but Stevenage finally won a Sunday league fixture in 2004. Stevenage batted averagely losing to many wickets to catches on the leg side on what was a record slow pitch.
Contributions coming from David Carr 20, Gary Brown 33, Ashley Bayes 26, Terry Ashby 13 and Jack Mitchell 22. However, the overconfidence of the Winchmore Hill in the field gave Stevenage a reason to belief that they
could win the game and more importantly the motivation to make it happen. Kevin Jones opened the bowling and after a dodgy start recovered to return some useful figures and claim 1 wicket the first of 2 catches behind the stumps by
Scott Reid. The real star of the bowling, however, was Jones' opening partner, Joel Hippolyte. Hippolyte bowled 10 overs straight through and took 4 wickets for 23 runs destroying Winchmore's top order. With the top order gone it was left to
Ashley Bayes to finish the game taking 4 for 25 in 9 overs supported by a tight spell from Albert Sodhi and good fielding all round, including 4 catches in the field by David Carr.
(Man of the Match - Joel Hippolyte)
RESULT - Stevenage Lost by 7 wickets
Stevenage remain winless in the CVL and are still finding it hard to put out consistent sides. Stevenage batted first and got of to a good start with an excellent opening stand between Dave Carr (36) & Gary Brown (44) of 87 followed by 42 from Albert Sodhi.
But the middle order batted weakly and the 194 posted was a good 50 runs short of what was required against the strongest opposition Stevenage have faced in the CVL this season. In the field Stevenage's bad luck on Sunday's continued. Ashley Bayes went to hospital after being struck below the eye in attempting
to take a catch and Captain Barry Turner left the field with heat stroke as a result of a combination of poor lifestyle, Saturday against Bushy and morning football. This left Stevenage with 9 men for a while until u13 Rhys Stewart stepped into the breach and helped out with the fielding. On the bowling front Mark Sinclair
was the only wicket taker, claiming 3 early wickets to give Stevenage hope, but despite a tidy spell from Albert Sodhi and decent overs from Joel Hippolyte, Ickenham ran out comfortable winners.
(Man of the Match - Mark Sinclair)
RESULT - Stevenage Lost by 7 wickets
Stevenage remain winless in the CVL and are finding it hard to put out consistent sides, with the results suffering for this reason. On a wicket that played like it was a mattress runs
were difficult to come by and it took a hundred run partnership between David Carr (52) and Gary Brown (69) to allow Stevenage to post a worthwhile total of 178. The opening partnership was one of contrasts, with Carr manufacturing shots
and Brown timing the ball with legitimate shots on a pitch that no other batsman got to grips with. The unorthadox approach was used successfully by the home sides batsman who were very quick to punish anything loose and made the most of
one or more bad balls per over to win the game with 4 overs to spare.
(Man of the Match - Gary Brown)
RESULT - Stevenage Lost by 6 wickets
Compared to their first game in this competition this match was a positive joy, however, it still ended in defeat for Stevenage against a team of average ability and is a direct reflection on the
lack of depth of experience in the players avaialable on a Sunday. Stevenage won the toss and made an encouraging start with the Haribo inspired opening pair of David Carr and Laurie Brown. 14yr old Brown contributing an assured 26 to an
opening parternship in the mid 60s. Carr continued to a total of 82 before being dismissed with about 12 overs remaining, but other contributions were restricted to 10s and 20s and the Stevenage total ended on 188. Edmonton rode their luck early on and
made the most of three dropped catches inside the first 3 overs, two of John Mould's bowling and one of Mark Sinclairs. But from then on Edmonton didn't look back as they accelerated towards vitory. After 1 wicket for Sinclair, Joel Hippolyte picked up a
wicket and Richard Hamilton a couple, but it was never going to be enough for the home side.
(Man of the Match - David Carr)
RESULT - Stevenage Lost by 6 wickets
The most appropriate way to describe the day would be MERDE. There are many more satisfying options but the website is heavily censored so that will have to do.
The game started early at the request of Brondsbury so everyone could watch England vs France in Euro 2004 that evening (MERDE), so everyone missed their lunch (MERDE). The game was being played at the Met Police Bushy,
not Brondesbury and the pitch being used was approximately 1 mile from the changing room (MERDE). Before the toss there was a childrens bouncy castle standing proudly outside the pavilion, as captain
Barry Turner returned from the toss the bouncy castle was in the process of becoming neither bouncy nor a castle and a group of cricketers were seen and heard "chipping it" from the area shouting "leg it, quick". (MERDE).
Stevenage batted first and Brondesbury were rubbish, but Stevenage were bowled out for 146. (MERDE). Tea was approximately 15 minutes late and in addition to being the worst tea in the history of the world in
terms of content, there was not enough for half of one side let alone two teams and it cost £35.00 per team. (MERDE). In reply Brondesbury remained rubbish but still won easily. (MERDE). After the game the showers were stone
cold (MERDE).
(Man Of A Match - Graham Thorpe)