Rain delay compounds Shepherds Bush Cricket Club's misery

Disappointingly, the Shepherds Bush CC 1st Xl Premier Division match away at Hornsey was cancelled after waves of bank holiday weekend downpours saturated the ground.

“It rained from the early hours of Saturday to mid Saturday afternoon across the area, so all grounds were too wet to play on,” said one frustrated club member. “Even when the wicket was covered, the outfield was too wet and there wasn’t enough time, or sunshine, to dry it quickly enough to be able to get a match in.”

Also cancelled were the scheduled Saturday matches between SBCC 2nd Xl and Eastcote, SBCC 3rd Xl v Brondesbury and SBCC 4th Xl's away match against Indian Gymkhana. A complete washout.

But by Sunday it was dry enough for the club’s Sunday Xl to host Harrow St Mary’s… although they ended up wishing they hadn’t!

Harrow won the toss at Bromyard Avenue, and chose to bat. After openers Safdar Zaman and Janak Trivedi were out cheaply, for 6 and 13 respectively, Bush were buoyant, with the real prospect of an opposition collapse.

But Umar Khan and Adam Gale came in and steadied the ship, each scoring half-centuries before captain Melique Jacobs weighed in with a highly entertaining 58 not out, including four sixes and six fours, leading Harrow to a total of 255 for 9 in 40 overs.

Bush began brightly in reply, with Michael Jenkins scoring 22. But wickets began tumbling as Yashasvi Mohan, Vaishnav Parmar, wicketkeeper Ned Mayes and captain Chris Chunnilall all failed to get above 5 runs.

Domonic Hurley-Mcbean added some respectability with a solid 40 in just under an hour at the crease. But even Peter Todorov’s 16 not out couldn’t make a difference, and Bush were all out for 135 in under 30 overs.

So the Bush 1st Xl will be looking to make up for it on Saturday (31 August) when Ealing CC visit Bromyard Avenue. The start time is noon, and spectators are encouraged to come along with the weather set fair at the weekend.

Then on Sunday, 1 September, the Shepherds Bush CC Women’s 1st Xl host Harrow CC 1st Xl Women at 2pm. Again, pop along if you’re free, to cheer them on.