Match Report by Tom Bloor

The first game of the Walthamstow Horizontals 25th anniversary season was an away fixture against the Railway Taverners at North London Cricket Club. Not a drop of rain had fallen for a month so there was little danger of a traditional early season washout. The day was warm and dry. Conditions at the ground were more reminiscent of June than April, with puffs of dust billowing from the wicket and an outfield hard enough to skin the knees of tumbling fielders. Craig Murray, beginning his second year as Horizontals’ captain, won the toss and elected to bat first. The team included Bharak, Arvind Shidlagatta and Bernard George, all players new to the Horizontals. Raul was due to play but telephoned the skipper to say he’d been detained en route. Barry had only come along to drop off the scorebook, but despite suffering from a severe case of tennis elbow, he offered to make up the eleven. It was decided to play time rather than overs, and the game got underway at ten past two.
The Horizontals’ opening batsmen, Phil Stevens and Tom Bloor, strode to the middle in milky sunlight, under a sky shrouded in thin cloud. Runs came slowly at first, with some accurate bowling from the Taverners. With Tom out, caught behind off a faint edge, Bernard George began what was to be a lengthy tenure at the crease. Phil made 18 before he was bowled, and then Barak became the first of three caught and bowled dismissals in the innings. Bernard continued to play a pivotal role, batting with great authority as he amassed an individual total of 47 before being narrowly run out, the keeper taking off the bails with the batsman just inches from reaching his ground. Chris Wilcox produced a zesty knock, making 32, and Matt Webster bludgeoned 19 runs. Arvind Shidlagatta, along with Roger Skipper, provided the sting in the Horizontals’ tail, with the former striking a lightening 36 runs before he was bowled. Roger, also in free-scoring mode, was joined for the last few overs by the doughty Barry Needham, batting with his elbow in a brace. But it was Roger who struck the final runs, a boundary off the last ball, which brought the score to exactly 200. He finished on 11 not out.

The Railway Taverners began their reply after the tea interval. They made a strong start, with their openers laying down a firm foundation before the bowling side could force a breakthrough. This came when Justin Roy took the first wicket by inducing a false stroke, Roger Skipper pouching the resultant skier. But this just brought Dave Terry to the crease and more runs were piled on, with the Taverners looking favourites to overhaul the Horizontals’ not inconsiderable total. But opening bowler Matt Webster was finally rewarded for his toil when he bowled the rampant Terry for 39. Arvind had Clarke stumped for 36, with the help of some smart glove-work from Chris Wilcox, debuting behind the timbers for the Horizontals. Roger topped off an all-round good performance when he bowled the Taverners’ number 4 batsman. Batting at 5, Jagan had made a rapid 28 when he tried to take on Matt’s powerful and accurate throw from the deep. The ball sailed into the keeper’s gloves and the batsman was run out. With their total still more than fifty runs short of the target, a win for the Taverners now began to look unlikely. Their batsmen refused to shut up shop however, and the Horizontals were not yet in any position to relax. But then Craig Murray stepped up to the mark to provide a fine display of run-stifling, wicket-taking spin bowling. He took the wickets of batsmen 6, 7, and 8, lbw, bowled and caught and bowled, while Matt returned to have the number 9 bat caught by Chris, running out from behind the wicket to collect a skied ball. Only now, with 9 men down and 4 overs to go, did the Taverners begin to focus their thinking exclusively on playing for a draw. Tension mounted as Ed Bartrum, batting at 11, coolly defended his wicket from within a tight ring of close fielders. The final breakthrough came at the other end however, when, with just 3 balls remaining, Craig flighted in a delivery on a very full length and rearranged the stumps. This wicket left Craig with the excellent figures of 4 for 11 runs from 7 overs. For the Horizontals it was a satisfying conclusion to an exciting game. This hard-fought match was played in good spirit throughout and the positive attitude displayed by the Taverners contributed much to the enjoyment of the fixture. An excellent start to the season.