Frimley Green Cricket Club vs Yateley - Sunday 7th May 2023, 13:00

With Frimley Lodge busy hosting events celebrating the coronation of King Charles III, we returned to the old home pitch of Frimley Rec for only the second time in a little over a decade for this 35 over game. Last time here was in 2021 and FGCC were victorious, so on the back of a good win last week the team was keen to start the season with 2 wins out of 2. Yateley are a new opposition for FGCC with this being the first meeting between the two clubs, so little was known about the opposition. There was a returning player though, Anthony McGowan who had played 6 games for FGCC was playing for Yateley. Also Anu was back for FGCC after a 3 year absence. The weather looked OK but the pitch didn’t look the best, so it wasn’t a great start when captain Suresh lost the toss and FGCC were put into bat. Openers Anam and Mark got to start on a sideways sloping pitch, which was still a bit damp. With memories of boundaries being very hard to come by last week a ball hooked for four by Mark in the first over was an encouraging sight. However, in true FGCC form a collapse was just around the corner and by the first ball of the sixth over FGCC were 15 for 4, including an LBW decision that left the FGCC batsman not at all convinced (are we ever convinced when we are out LBW?). This is when FGCC’s fortunes changed with Hafeez and Prasad forming a slow and steady partnership, over by over this grew with runs now coming at a good pace. The thick outfield (could have done with a trim) which was still a bit damp made boundaries hard to come by, but still this duo scored quite a few 4s mainly by sending the ball over the outfield rather than along the ground. The partnership looked solid apart from one near run out, which saw Prasad stop in the middle convinced he would be out. Prasad then saw the fielder throw and miss the stumps (probably had time to walk over and take the stumps), without the keeper collecting the ball Prasad ending up running in comfortably. Unfortunately in the 24th over with the score on 100 Hafeez was bowled and this was the cue for FGCC’s second batting collapse, seeing 6 wickets fall in just 15 balls. During which we did see the first Leaver partnership (Dad and son) and this also gave another near run out, with Jonny trying to run out his son Brandon. Again FGCC were lucky with the fielder missing the stumps and the wicket keeper not collecting the ball, Brandon was then able to score his first run for the club. The innings was brought to a close when Jonny was bowled leaving FGCC on 103 runs, with only Hafeez (31 runs) and Prasad (40 runs) scoring above 5 runs, in fact 5 FGCC players failed to score. During lunch there was some discussion on whether the total set by FGCC was a bit low, as captain Suresh had said at the start we needed 150, but we remember the old adage, “you never know how good your score is until both teams have batted”. After the lunch interval FGCC started with 10 as Anam was late returning (to be fair we were lucky to have him playing at all, with him due to be a father in the next week or two). This meant the Manoj and Hafeez opened the bowling, with the pitch still a bit damp and with slightly strange bounce the conversation was firmly about bowling on the stumps. Both bowlers followed this idea and FGCC struck early in over 2, when Manoj bowled opener Harvey and returning player Anthony McGowan (second ball) both for 0 runs. Wickets then began to fall regularly and after 5 overs Yateley were 8 for 5 (all the top 5 batsmen gone). The bowling was good, the fielding tight and as thoughts turned to a good victory FGCC reminded themselves of the one good partnership that had saved their innings. With a wicket falling in each of the 6th, 7th and 8th overs Yateley were now on 11 for 8 and FGCC conversations now turned to the lowest total by an opposition, with guesses in the 30s??? Manoj had now secured a fifer, despite a dropped catch when on 4 wickets and Hafeez now had 3 wickets. The last 2 wickets were shared leaving Manoj with 6 and Hafeez just missing his own fifer on 4 wickets. Only 2 bowlers were used by FGCC and with 7 of the wickets bowled and one LBW it was clear they had done a superb job bowling mainly on the stumps. The other 2 wickets were smart catches by Suresh and Brandon, with Brandon’s catch in the slips taking the last wicket of the match. Yateley finished all out on 16, a new lowest total for an opposition team beating the previous score of 23 by Alderholt on 11/7/1999.A Rare feat by FGCC under the Captaincy of Suresh Dollu. A great day and a great result for FGCC that maybe looked unlikely at lunch, but definitely proved the old adage “you never know how good your score is until both teams have batted”. A result that will live in memories after breaking the record for the lowest score by an opposition team. Having now had a fantastic start to the cricket season with 2 out of 2 wins FGCC are looking to make it 3 wins from 3 next week in the “clash of the greens”, with FGCC taking on Pinkney Green in an away fixture.