HURLEY 1ST v WINCHMORE HILL 1ST Date: 27TH July

Played at Hurley

Innings of Hurley

P. Ridgeway c. Hussain b. Kamran 6 D. Simoes c. M. Saghir b. Hussain 36 Naeem Akhtar c. and b. Reading 88 P. Hunjan LBW b. Hussain 14 R. Brown c. Adnan b. Hussain 9 T. Balchin LBW b. Kamran 0 V. Bhagwani 32 P. Todd Not Out 9 G. Double Did Not Bat M. Cole Did Not Bat D. Day Did Not Bat Extras 14 Total 208 For 6

Bowling

Overs Maidens Runs Wkts. Mohammed Kamran 15 4 53 2 D. Reading 15 2 50 1 Shakeel Iqbal 3 0 23 0 Mohammed Saghir 4 0 24 0 Bilal Hussain 15 3 46 3

Innings of Winchmore Hill

S. Banham c. Simoes b. Ridgeway 29 Sagid Khan c. Akhtar b. Brown 0 Adnan Shazad Not Out 117 Saghir Ahmed c. and b. Akhtar 27 Adeel Iqbal+ Not Out 7 Shakeel Iqbal Did Not Bat Majid Ahmed Did Not Bat Mohammed Saghir* Did Not Bat Mohammed Kamran Did Not Bat D. Reading Did Not Bat Bilal Hussain Did Not Bat Extras 32 Total 211 For 3

Bowling

Overs Maidens Runs Wkts. R. Brown 6 0 29 1 Naeem Akhtar 7 1 45 1 P. Hunjan 5 0 22 0 V. Bhagwani 7 0 45 0 P. Ridgeway 5 0 51 1

Result: Winchmore Hill won by seven

Hurley 1st XI subsided to a seven- defeat to Winchmore Hill at Shepherd’s Lane. The game featured one excellent individual performance by each team, but the details of the match were somewhat overshadowed by a horrendous injury to the Hurley captain Ross Brown while fielding. Going into this match, the visitors were forty-six points clear at the top of Division 2, and were relegated in 2011 after six seasons in the top flight. They had, however, unexpectedly lost their seasonal unbeaten record the previous weekend at Little Marlow, while Hurley had just completed back-to-back wins.

Hurley captain Brown opted to bat on a hot and humid day, on which play was forecast to be curtailed by heavy evening rain. Winchmore opened the bowling from the Lane end with Mohammed Kamran, who also bowled at the death from the same end. Dave Reading bowled in three spells and changed ends twice. The visitors kept things tight in the opening exchanges. In the fifth over Phil Ridgeway played a fierce cover drive towards the barbecue, but was caught at mid-off with the very next ball. David Simoes made a cautious start but steadily grew in confidence until caught on the leg side in Bilal Hussain’s first over from the Farm end. Hussain, a slow left-armer, had replaced the left-arm over bowling of Shakeel Iqbal, and bowled unchanged for the bulk of the second half of the Hurley innings. Naeem Akhtar came to the crease with the score on eight and initially played a supporting role to Simoes, but he looked to increase the rate of scoring once Simoes departed. The stand of forty-seven in thirteen overs for the second wicket was the highest of the Hurley innings. Akhtar batted in all for forty-three overs, and built useful stands with all of his partners until he was sixth out to a steepling catch by Reading with the score on 174. Vikram Bhagwani and Paul Todd gained useful runs at the end of the hosts’ innings. Akhtar scored the seventh fifty of his career.

In reply, Brown opened the bowling from the Lane end. Brown took an early wicket when Akhtar held a catch at gully, but unexpectedly left the match in the twelfth over. Bhagwani replaced Brown, and Parvinder Hunjan and then Ridgeway replaced Akhtar at the Farm end. Stuart Banham made smooth progress, but was caught at short extra cover by Simoes in the twenty-second over after two breaks in play. Adnan Shazad was dropped at least twice, but in leading the charge to victory took advantage of Hurley’s depleted attack and deteriorating conditions in the field to wrap up the match for the visitors. There had been spots of rain throughout the Winchmore innings, but the last ten overs were played in light rain and poor light with the apparent consent of both umpires and acting captain Ridgeway in an attempt to achieve a satisfactory outcome to the match. Torrential rain took over as the players left the field. Once the post-match chaos had subsided, it was established that Shazad had scored an unbeaten and two-thirds of his team’s runs off the bat, although the result of the match seemed academic in the light of all of the day’s events.

Hurley captain Brown went to ground while fielding in the deep on the far side opposite the changing rooms. The conditions played no part in this. He was in great distress and could not move his left leg, so an ambulance was called. A dislocated knee was diagnosed, and Brown was given nitrous oxide pain relief and fitted with an inflatable leg jacket before being taken to Reading (presumable Royal Berkshire) Hospital. Brown seemed likely to be out for the rest of the season. In all play was held up for about half an hour. The next fixture is at Pinkneys Green.

Morrant Men of the Match: The two paramedics