RVCC 2002 Season
Results | 2002 Averages Well it wasn't the best of seasons for our mighty club! A record of 7 matches played and 7 defeats sounds terrible but I like to think it doesn't tell the full story! Our moment of glory could have come in the home game against Comberton, we were looking good with 120 after 14 overs but alas the weather shafted us and the match was abandonned, thus erasing Nicky's career best 60 not out! At the end of the year we were unsurprisingly relegated to division 3.
* = both "wins" were matches conceded by Napp Match ReportsRed Lion (League), Thurs 25/7/02 at GirtonRed Lion won by 5 wicketsRick played his first game of the season and showed us how its done with a wonderful 74 out of the total of 120 for 5. It included 4 sixes and 7 fours, 4 of which came in consecutive balls off one of the Red Lion's quick young bowlers. One of the sixes flew out of the ground, bounced on the road and broke a window in one of the houses opposite! Graeme chipped in with 11 and Jon Green 10 not out as we finally reached the magic 120. Unfortunately it was not quite enough as the Lion made a flying start, getting to 49/0 after the first 5 overs. Then we got back into the match with some good bowling from Steve Critchley (3 for 20 in 4 overs) and a run out by Martin. But we could never quite tie their batsman down enough to put them behind the required rate. They reached the winning total with 10 balls remaining and 5 wickets in hand. Well another defeat and relegation is a certainty for us now (not there was much doubt before!), whereas the Red Lion look like going up to division 1, as they haven't lost a match all season. Robert Sayle (Friendly), Thurs 18/7/02 at GirtonRobert Sayle won by 9 wicketsAgain we won the toss and chose to bat. We batted much better than 2 nights previously (not hard!), despite Sayle's having 2 good accurate opening bowlers. Dave Clark and Graeme gave us a reasonable start with a 20 run stand before Dave hit one down mid-off's throat for 13. Graeme was out 2 overs later caught behind for 8. Again Bruce was the star bat, making 42 including a huge trademark six over mid-on, before being bowled out going for another huge hit. Nicky (4) was bowled by a deadly yorker but Martin (27 not out) kept the scoring going to the end but struggled to really punish the weaker bowlers as they deserved. Anyway the total of 118 was our best of the season (excluding the abandonned game against Comberton of course) so we should have been in with a shout. However it didn't turn out that way, the bowling was poor and the fielding was worse as we surrendered in just 10.5 overs, Hursh took the only wicket, in the first over. After that the two batsmen really got their eye in and were scoring at will against our weakened attack. Jamie G missed a difficult chance on the mid-off boudary, but many balls which could have been stopped went to the boundary. So another 9 wicket defeat, despite a much better batting display this time. Spread Eagle (League), Tues 16/7/02 at Trinity HallSpread Eagle won by 9 wicketsWell not much to say about this game except we got thrashed! It was a lovely evening for cricket for a change, but we failed to make any impression after winning the toss batting first. Only Bruce got going, making a quick-fire 29, but everyone else collapsed - the second highest scorer was Alex with 9 not out - and we finished on a lame 74 all out. That's not enough to beat any team, let alone a good team like the Spread Eagle and they cruised home in just 9.2 overs and losing just 1 wicket, taken by Steve Critchley. Comberton (League), Thurs 11/7/02 at GirtonNo result - match abandonnedWell the weather stitched us up again, this time it was even worse because we had got ourselves into a winning position with 120 from the first 14 overs, easily our best batting display of the season. The star was Nicky with a career-best 60 not out after opening the batting with Dave Clark - he did what he does best, getting on top of the bowlers and hitting anything over pitched for 4. In the middle order Bruce disappointed with a golden duck lobbed back to the bowler, and Brian's good run came to an end as he made just 4. Martin (19 not out) came in to join Nicky and the scoring rate accelerated to what was going to be a decent total, before the heavens opened and washed us out. Red Lion (League), Thurs 4/7/02 at GirtonRed Lion won by 20 runsYet again we lost the toss and were asked to bowl first. The Red Lion started at a fierce pace, they were 38/1 after 4 overs, and 81/2 after 8, both openening bowlers suffered- Nicky was the most expensive bowler going for 0/50 in 4 overs, Steve took 1 for 19 in his 2 overs. Tighter bowling from Buster (1/36 in 4), Martin (1/11 in 2) and Robbo (2/17 in 3) helped us to slow them down a little but they still reached 134/5 in their 15 overs, with 28 extras giving them an extra boost. We would need a daunting 9 an over to win the game. Catches were held by Graham - in his first outing behind the stumps for the Vue - Steve and Martin. Dropped catch culprits were Bruce and Steve. After the early loss of the openers Graham (stumped for 11) and Nicky (5), Bruce and Jon Green shared an excellent partnership which at one point had us on target to reach the required total. - at 79/2 after 10 overs we were only just off the pace - they were 87/3 at the same stage. Bruce impressed with a trademark 6 over mid-on and 2 consecutive hooks for 4 off one of the Red Lion's quick young bowlers, and Jon played a good supporting role. Unfortunately Bruce was caught behind for 35 in the 11th over and it was all downhill from there. Brian (4) and Jon (24) were both bowled out in the following over, quickly followed by Robbo (1) and Mark Barton (golden duck!) the oover after that. Martin (13) and Buster (3 not out) had a little stand of 20 for the 8th wicket but by then it was all over. Martin was run out and Steve Critchley was bowled (the second golden duck of the innings!) in the last over as we limped to 114/9 off the 15 overs. Although the batting was better this week (4 players reached double figures!) we let ourselves down with some loose bowling and poor fielding, although having said that the Red Lion are clearly a very strong team in this division. Comberton (League), Tues 25/6/02 at CombertonComberton won by 1 runHow did we manage to lose this game?!! We scored 94 off the bat to their 66, we had the best batsman (Bob - 27), the best bowler (Steve Critchley - 2 for 9 off 2.5 overs), and we hit 9 fours and a six to their 7 boundaries. A shocking 40 extras is what made the difference, when they only gave us 11! Comberton's innings started quickly, they had 32 on the board after just 3 overs, Graeme's 2 overs being particularly expensive. But we had already picked up 3 wickets, one thanks to a direct hit run out by Bob! Hirsch bowled tidily picking up 2 for 21 in his 4 overs. The wickets continued to fall steadily but by the time the last one went down in the penultimate over the total had reached 106 thanks to 18 wides and 17 byes in a gruesome total of 40 extras. So we had to make just over 7 an over, a total which looked easily gettable with a strong Vue batting line up (on paper anyway!). Bob played the anchor role with a solid 27 and Nicky (14) and Graeme (19) looked good before getting out. This weeks ducks went to Hirsch (chip shot to mid-off) and Robbo (clean bowled off stump). However the scoring rate was falling below what we needed, and when Brian came in to join Martin we still needed 38 runs off 26 balls. Martin hit a six and Brian was knocking good singles and by the time the last over started we needed 12 to equal their score which would be enough to win the match on wickets lost. Unfortunately Brian was run out for 9 with 2 still required and off the last ball Jamie was bowled out when just a single would have won us the match, Martin was left on 23 not out. A crushing way to lose, especially in a game we all know we could and should have won. Spread Eagle (league), Thurs 13/6/02 at GirtonResult: Spread Eagle won by 3 wicketsAfter losing the toss and unusually being put in to bat first, we again batted poorly to leave ourselves what proved to be too few runs to defend, despite a good bowling performance. The innings started badly with Bob controversially given out caught behind off the second ball of the innings for a duck. Graham (10) and Hirsch (7) got started but both got caught out playing loose shots. There was then a classic Vue collapse including Alex's golden duck. When Nicky was out for 2 we were 39-7 and an embarrassing defeat was looming. Fortunately Martin (27) and Brian (17 not out) managed to put on 51 for the 8th wicket with some good controlled hitting, and the innings closed on an almost respectable 91-8. The Spread Eagle got off to a jittery start as Graeme claimed 2 wickets in his first over, but a partnership of 45 for the third wicket got Spread well on the way. Then the wickets started to fall, Nicky getting one in his first over and Robbo claiming 3 victims in 3 overs, Bob bowled 2 tight overs and got a wicket. The seventh wicket fell on 90 but the Spread's tail enders managed to see them home with 2 overs remaining. Robert Sayle (friendly), Tues 7/5/02 at Pembroke CollegeResult: Robert Sayle won by 35 runsA poor batting display saw the Vue lose this low scoring encounter in their first outing of the season. Sayle's batted first and managed to reach 95 from their 15 overs after a late flourish. Graeme had the best figures of 3-14 despite bowling 4 no-balls in his first over. When we came to bat it started badly with Jamie getting out to the 3rd ball of the innings. No-one reached double figures until Nicky came in at number 9 and smashed a quick 20 in a stand of 32 with Bob, but it was too little too late and we were all out for 60. 2002 ResultsAll fixtures are in Division 2 of the Cambridge Business House League unless stated otherwise.
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