Blimey – More Sun Shine!
Date:
8 August 2007
Opponent:
Morden Corinthians
Attendance:
0
Result:
Lose
Scores:
MCCC 166 – 9 – 38 overs, S King 5/0/21/3
EMCC 146 – 9 – 40 overs, Colin Smith 43
Report:
EMCC’s fixture followed the normal pattern of games against Morden Corinthians, with EMCC losing in a valiant way following a game which has fluctuated throughout and was uncomfortably confrontational at times. Paul “animal” Pennock opened up for EMCC and was his usual economic self on the fastest and flattest wicket of the season. Life at the other end of the wicket wasn’t so rosie however, as Richard “the arm” Darke came in for some severe treatment, before Jim “celebrations” Yelland entered the attack to ensure pressure was applied from both ends. Paul and Jim both grabbed a wicket to slow the scoring rate after a blistering start, and Geoff “the silver fox” Morris used his flight and guile to making scoring tough, before Simon “mmm cake” King had his first bowl for two years. After a rusty start Simon found his natural pace and rhythm to take three wickets with a mix of swing and seam. Mean while Tim “trouble down” Pitt bowled from the other end with equal aplomb in very tough circumstances. Matt Shipton was exceptional in the field supporting the young bowlers, and MCCC were restricted to 166 all out.
EMCC’s habit of losing two wickets with very few runs on the board re-appeared and it wasn’t until Colin “the crab” Smith and Richard “the arm” Darke put a partnership together, that EMCC looked capable of reaching treble figures. Richard’s powerful drives and pulls, were complimented by several of Colin's trade mark extra cover drives, until a stunning catch at fine leg bought the partnership to an premature end from an EMCC point of view. EMCC maintained the walk if you nick it policy throughout the innings and though an unsightly incident undermined the spirit of the match, Paul “animal” Pennock joined Colin after two further wickets fell and got EMCC back up to the scoring rate. Once Paul was out LBW and Colin succumbed soon after, EMCC fought valiantly but didn’t have the weight of shots to reach the challenging total and finished the 40 overs 20 runs short.
Historical Infotainment:
The term Corinthian is derived from one of the four major races of ancient Greece (including the Spartans, Athenians and another one I can’t remember), each of which is said to have had defining characteristics. The Spartans were a violent warrior race, the Athenians where highly commercial, and the “other lot” were seafaring. By contrast the Corinthians had a particular moral code of chivalry, which stood them apart from the other races, and this has come to define to ethos underpinning the concept of amateur sport in the modern Olympic era.
Isn’t education a wonderful thing?
Morden Corinthians Cricket Club started life as a third team within Morden CC, based in Surrey. In the late 1990's, the third team decided to sever its ties with the parent club. The main reason behind the split was because 3rd XI players were invariably being drafted into the 2nd XI.
Annoyingly, this occurred regularly on match days, leaving a depleted, third with very short notice to fill the gaps left by the outgoing players. The situation was unworkable and the 3rd team, after many years with Morden, eventually departed in 1997. The new independent outfit, however already had a core of regular fixtures that had it built up over the years, and the team was very quickly running its own affairs in earnest and playing matches regularly throughout the season. As a temporary measure, the Team continued using the Morden 3rd team name in the '97 season. However, in 1998 it officially started playing under the registered identity of Morden Corinthians, a developing cricket club in its own right which is affiliated to the Club Cricket Conference.
MCCC plays its home fixtures in Merton, playing friendly matches between the months of April and September in the London South West and Surrey Areas. In addition, there are a few matches played early evenings on Fridays. Cricket tours are organised in the season and are held over a bank holiday weekend.
Membership continues to grow steadily. This growth was boosted albeit at the expense of another club which folded. Some of the players from Robin Hood CC, a casual side that also played friendly matches, joined Morden Corinthians in 2000. The incoming players enabled MCCC to operate both a Sunday and Saturday side, for which a total of 50+ fixtures have been arranged for this season.
Players are always welcome to the Club. We play at social level, and while good skills are a welcome bonus the emphasis is on enjoyment and sense of humour.
In 2003 the Club registered its own website domain name as www.mordencorinthians.org.uk
Mission Statement
Morden Corinthians is a members’ club that welcomes players of all ages, abilities and ethnicity, taken from the local community. In our desire to compete, we shall not only uphold the traditional values of cricket but also embrace the spirit of the game, while building sporting relationships with other clubs and drawing on the whole-life enjoyment of playing together as a team.
In 2004 the Club re-located its home fixtures back to the London Borough of Merton in Raynes Park - Taunton Avenue.
Club Players’ Code of Conduct
Morden Corinthians Cricket Club is committed to uphold the gentlemanly conduct of the game of cricket.
The Club members, together with its other players, are required to not only abide by the laws of the game but to play within the spirit of the game.
The spirit of the game involves respect for:
Your opponents
Your own Captain and the rest of your team
The role of the umpires
The game’s traditional values It is against the spirit of the game: -To dispute an umpire’s decision by word, action or gesture
To use abusive language towards an opponent or umpire
To approach an umpire aggressively, especially when appealing
To appeal knowing that the batsman is not out
To distract an opponent either verbally or by clapping, under the pretence of enthusiasm and motivation of one’s own side
Should a player at a match fail to comply with the Laws of the game or challenges the decision of an umpire, criticising by word, action or showing dissent, or generally behaving in a manner that brings the game into disrepute, his conduct will first be discussed by the umpires and the player’s captain, with the latter official taking appropriate action on his offending player.
A Morden Corinthians player who has been cautioned/disciplined or censured has a right of appeal to the Club Chairman.
According to the laws, the umpires are the sole judges of fair and unfair play. Umpires, together with the captains, set the tone for the conduct of a cricket match, with additional responsibility on the captains to ensure that play – at all times – is conducted within the spirit of the game as well as within the Laws. Sir Don Bradman appropriately said: "As we are all custodians of the game of cricket and we should preserve its values."
2nd XI - August 2007
4 Epsom Methodists Away
18 Epsom Methodists Home
Morden Corinthians Cricket Club report of the same match
This match report is probably the worst one I've written this season because I forgot to take the scorebook at the end of the game! I'm now relying on my fading memory of events to share what was another epic game against our old friends Epsom Methodists.
Brian 'Lumboo' Clifford did well to win the toss on a scorcha of a day down at Dundonald Road. Our last game with Epsom Methodists went right down to the wire so we knew this was going to be a close game. With no Girish to shore up the batting we all knew we had to raise our game. Too often this season the middle order hasn't performed and low scores have been achieved which are impossible to defend.
It was also another occasion where we were down to ten men right at the start of the game when someone dropped out last minute. This is always very frustrating. An SOS went out to the league team for an extra player and that was answered in the form of Tush Wadhua arrived halfway through the game.
Amit and Paul opened the batting for MCCC. The pitch looked flat as a pancake and a par score on this would be around 220. The opening batters started in a very positive way before Amit holed out at midoff with the score at around 39-1. In at number 3 was Radha Alaghsarmy who hadn't played for a couple of seasons. It was nice to see him back. Radha plays in an orthodox way and being a left handed batter it made the opposition work a bit harder with a different bowling line and field position required. Paul had progressed rapidly stroking some nice drives through the offside before getting out to a quicker delivery which was straight.
It at number 4, which was quite a bit higher than he was used to this season, Imran Ahmad found himself out in the middle. The EM bowling was pretty tight not giving much away. A good partnership was slowly built by Imran and Radha playing in a conservative manner. Radha in particular played some lovely legside glances which raced away to boundary given a fast outfield. With a change of bowling both Imran and Radha started looking more comfortable but then Radha got a ball which took an inside edge onto his stumps and that was the end of a famous comeback. We hope to see you again soon Radha!
Tom Compton who for once didn't have a wedding or a social commitment on this Saturday was next in. Tom looked very patient at the start of his innings not going for any risky shots whilst leaving the bulk of the scoring to Imran. Imran had progressed onto 35 when the heat made him succumb to a moment of madness trying to hoof a bad bowler over mid off only to spoon it up straight in the air. Tom had looked more settled by this time but then he also hit the self destruct button playing across the line of ball which was straight. By this stage it looked like another MCCC collapse was going to happen until Brian Lumboo came in and played a captains innings. Brian had to take the strike and then lead the team to 166 all out in the last over of the game.
With a total of 166 we knew we were going to struggle. The pitch wasn't going to do anything for the bowlers. Anything short was going to be punished with catching chances to the slips appearing very limited. Brian set about organising the boys in a diligent manner given the low score we had to defend. Placing man fly slip-third man and then another man on fine leg cut out a lot of unnecessary runs.
Brian opened up the bowling with Raj both of whom had an excellent opening spell. Only Brian was rewarded after bowling one of the openers. With a man down so soon we looked like we had a game on our hands. Tush came on as first change and bowled with good pace and line to keep run rate to a minimum. The match was getting quite tense and then we then had a moment of controversy when Tush appealed for an LBW which wasn't given. Rightly or wrongly the umpire gave his decision as he saw fit. Tush was unhappy about and said as much. In past games with Epsom Methodists all the games have been played in a very sporting fashion - well within the spirit of the game. Hopefully this moment will be forgotten.
EM's wickets were falling at regular intervals. The danger man for EM was their Skipper who has in the past scored prolifically against us. He started off well but then tried to pull one down to the legside only for a sharp catch to go to Amit who was on the 45 degree point between fine leg and square leg (what is this position called?). Some tidy bowling changes orchestrated by Brian who introduced Amit and Vikram into the attack really locked things down and Epsom finished some 19 runs short. This was a great victory for the boys who fought hard through out. We want to see more of this kind of competitive team spirit as we know this season has been a poor one. Let's keep the winning habit going.
