After a battling win over Brockwell 49ers we sort-of chalked up another victory – thanks to John Minshull forfeiting a game on what turned out to be a day so wet even Noah would’ve baulked. Bad luck for Minshull but with two more points in the bag we were singing in the wet stuff.

There was a sharp shower before the game against the 49ers, although what followed was far from a damp squib as the evenly-matched teams played out a hugely satisfying contest.

Sultans lost the toss and were put into bat – the third match in a row we’ve padded up first. Once again it was a new-look opening partnership with Chris Andrews and boozily-nicknamed Steady facing the new ball.

While Steady went for an admirable and patient 14 – his better work was to come behind the stumps on debut – Andrews played a man-of-the-match knock that was aggressive and cultured in equal parts.

His unbeaten 61 was praised by the oppo’s skip as “the best I’ve ever seen” at this exalted (ahem) level and truly laid the foundations for the win.

It was also played a bit like a ‘U’ – loads of runs at the beginning and end and a sprinkle of singles in the middle. The tall right-hander hit boundaries all around wicket including a few lush cover drives and was the lynchpin around which a series of not-bad partnerships were established.

One of which was with Skip, who cast aside his demons to hit a handsome 14 – thus boosting his season average by 140 per cent – until he was out bowled, looking to work to the onside. Inevitably.

With the left-arm seamer Laight pitching it up the scene was set for Morgan’s usual 1 cameo but against all the odds the unlikely No4 saw off the dangerman to take Sultans to drinks.

By this time Andrews had retired after reaching his 50 and when Morgan was out for a season’s best 8 to a peach of an in-swinging yorker from Husbands, whose previous ball had bounced twice, quickly followed by Lord Wyndypops for 1, things were looking a touch shaky.

Cometh the hour cometh the man, however, and McGovern entered the arena to take a quantum leap in his cricketing education.

OK, he only made 10. But the look on the oppo’s faces when he smashed his first ball for four was priceless and helped wrestle back the momentum to the Sultans. Conley chipped in with a handy 11 before Earnshaw went for a quacker and the normally resolute Boss fell cheaply for 1 to bring debutant Marr to the wicket.

With Andrews returning to sign off his season in style, pressure was on for the Sultans to finish the innings with a flurry of runs. Some late boundaries from Marr, who finished second top scorer with 18, helped the Sultans past the 150 barrier.

So the 49ers needed 157 to win, but with only 10 men and a short boundary marked to allow Minshull to take on previous Sultans’ victims Village CC the total looked a touch on the low side. In his last appearance of the season Earnshaw took the cherry and was quickly into his groove, beating the bat on a number of times with movement through the air and off the pitch.

In his second over he struck twice, bowling the 49ers Nos 2 and 3 with a couple of beauties.

Conley, looking a little out of sorts from the bench end, then had Taunton stumped thanks to good work from Steady. He showed quick hands in taking the chance – but his feet would prove to be even swifter later on.

Tiger-fast reflexes from McGovern saw their No 5 run out for 0 to seemingly set the Sultans on their way to an easy win.

But Laight had other ideas, regularly plundering boundaries, and when Morgan came on the batsman dished out some punishment to the slower-than-he-should-be seamer.

As did the wristy Hassy, who took full advantage of the short boundary/wayward bowling combo to spank two successive sixes square of the wicket on his way to a fighting 37.

With these two swashbuckling away the Sultans began to fear the worst, and the partnership was only broken when Laight, with his half-century hoving into view, heaved a spiralling top edge into Steady’s welcoming gloves.

It had been a fine knock for 40 to accompany his tidy efforts with the ball.

Clarke, who once again bowled beautifully, ended Rice’s contribution with a jaffer before taking out dangerman Hassy with another top edge claimed by Steady.

But the stumpy’s finest moment came when the parabolic bowling of Wilson induced a swipe and miss by the oppo’s No10. Despite a nasty ricochet the tumbling keeper managed, fish-like, to change direction and kick the ball at the stumps to break the wicket. A brilliant piece of improvisation and one that proved decisive in swinging the game our way.

Earnshaw then returned to do what he does best – get people out – by trapping the skipper LBW. He finished with pristine figures of 3-9 which is anyone’s books is tremendous.

Then the ball was tossed to bespectacled Marr, who had been itching to get on. It didn’t take him too long to wrap things up. His first ball was bob on, his second a wide, his third, bowled!

The Sultans jumped for joy at winning what had been by far our toughest match of the season.

For a game that saw a pitch invasion by a labradoodle we failed to get ’em by the short and curlies – until the foot of Steady intervened. Now we need just one more win to seal the league title.

Wilson won the toss again, and chose to have a bat

Sultans of Swing CC Innings:

Swiers – bowled Bugg – 49
Skinner † – run out Wales – 47
Faint – bowled Bugg – 8
Wilson – c. Bingham b. Bugg – 0
Renwick – bowled Rawlins – 21
Palmer – LBW b. Bugg – 0
Morgan – bowled Rawlins – 1
McGovern – bowled Rawlins – 0
Andrews – not out – 12
Earnshaw – c. Bingham b. Rawlins – 34
Rankin – not out – 5

Bowling (overs, maidens, wickets, runs):

Rawlins: 7-1-4-15
Bingham: 7-0-2-57
Wales: 7-0-0-36
Aziz: 2-0-0-11
Bugg: 7-0-4-35
Bidri: 4-0-0-14
Ellerby: 1-0-0-9

Extras: 18

TOTAL: 195-9 (35 overs)

Calypso Collapso Innings:

Bugg – bowled Andrews – 10
Goddard – c. Wilson b. Rankin – 21
Collett – c. Skinner b. Morgan – 2
Ellerby – bowled Morgan – 0
Cherrington-Blisset – c. Faint b. Rankin – 4
Riches – bowled Wilson – 7
Rawlins – c. Skinner b. Earnshaw – 50
Aziz – c. McGovern b. Faint – 5
Wales – LBW b. Palmer – 4
Bingham – c. Andrews b. Earnshaw – 13
Bidri – not out – 4

Extras: 12

TOTAL: 132 all out (27.3 overs)

Bowling (overs, maidens, wickets, runs):

Andrews: 5-1-1-17
Morgan: 7-0-2-12
Rankin: 5-0-2-25
Wilson: 3-0-1-24
Faint: 3-0-1-10
Earnshaw: 3.3-0-2-13
Palmer: 1-0-1-12

Result: Sultans of Swing CC won by 63 runs

Full written match report HERE

Pride comes before a fall and all that, but something odd has happened to the Sultans this year.

Whereas last season saw us sneak one victory pretty much thanks to the ability of Steve Loonstra, we now appear to have developed the happy knack of being able to grab games by the scruff of the neck and, well, win. And win well.

So it was in front of our largest crowd of the season on Saturday (five) when a brilliant opening stand of 100 between debutant Swiers – who was due at the Bull And Last for a shift at 3pm – and Cricket Sage Skinner set up the perfect platform which even we couldn’t throw away.

Batting first after Skip won his second toss on the bounce, the crack SAS team played with patience and skill against an accurate Calypso attack.

The rest of the Sultans kicked back on the boundary as the openers notched up the runs, getting to drinks with a few minor scares. This point in the match normally marks the beginning of the rearguard action but today we appeared to be on easy street.

Well, we were until Swiers and Skinner both fell short of their 50s, having been given the nod to throw the bat, before Faint and Skip were out in quick succession.

The less said about Skip’s innings, the better, to be honest. He came, he saw, he was out for 0 trying to force runs on the leg-side.

This halved his season average to 0.5. If it’s any consolation, Brearley only averaged 22 in Tests. Better grow that beard back.

Only Dicko, dealing mainly in lusty boundaries, provided any resistance in a middle order collapse which saw Palmer LBW after possibly the most misjudged leave ever, the consistent Doghouse bowled by a straight ball for 1 and McGovern left with another duck to put on the wall.

If Dicko’s 21 had lit the touch-paper then Earnshaw’s knock was a Howitzer of an innings with the ball smacked all over in a hugely entertaining rapid-fire 34, including five fours in a row. He eventually fell as fast bowler Rawlings’ fourth victim of the innings, with fellow Calypso seamer Bugg also finishing with a well-deserved haul of four scalps.

Newcomer Andrews then showed some good clean hitting in making 12 while latecomer Rankin kept the strike rotating well to leave Calypso needing a walloping 196 to win.

After the demolition job carried out last time by Earnshaw – and the absent Rampant Conley – it should have been all bets off as to who was to take the new ball.

But cunning Skip tossed the cherry to left-armer Andrews, keeping his prime strike weapon under wraps. While his first ball (which was actually bowled with an old ball) went for four byes the Cornishman was soon getting movement in the helpful conditions.

Completing the new-look opening pair, Doghouse took the second over and managed to get it in just about the right place.

Four tight overs followed before Andrews made the breakthrough, clean bowling Bugg in a wicket maiden.

Doghouse, keeping one end fairly tidy and bowling his seven over straight through, struck twice.

Meanwhile the off-spin of Rankin, who had replaced Andrews, was a delight to watch but probably not play as he achieved turn and bounce on the once-again unpredictable Hampstead track.

One spitting delivery caught the edge of Goddard who was brilliantly pouched, one handed, by Skip after a cunning deflection from the wicket-keeper. If he carries on like this we’ll have to set up a Catch Of Skip’s Season award.

Rankin struck again before Skip’s leg-breaks brought a flurry of runs for the oppo and eventually a wicket as his F&G paid off. In an action-packed cameo he was also unlucky not to get a stumping and even saw one delivery hit the fielders’ hat placed behind the keeper, giving away five runs and leading both teams to ponder how this rarity is marked down in the scorebook.

Proving there was real depth in bowling, Faint also impressed with his accurate medium pacers and managed to extract some fine bounce which resulted in a spinning edge well taken by McGovern at square leg.

While wickets fell at regular intervals, with five Calypso batsmen out for single figures, it was far from one-way traffic as Rawlings made a fine bid for man of the match by smashing a brutal half-century, including a lofted straight drive that was a one-bounce four.

When three more boundaries in a row were knocked off the bowling of Palmer there were early twinges of tension among the 10 men in the Sultans field (Swires having long since departed to serve up posh Scotch Eggs) that the Sultans were beginning to lose sway in the game.

But then came Earnshaw. It could be deemed a touch unfair to unleash the beast for the final few overs but his introduction was the perfect way to see off the game.

Once again he was a couple of yards faster than anyone on the day, and proved too hot to handle even for the returning Rawlings who edged a snorter to Skinner who took a fine one-handed catch to finish the innings.

The Cricket Sage is in fine form with bat and gloves this season. If we had one, and we probably should, he would have been man of the match for once again laying the foundations of victory with a cultured innings and a good show behind the stumps. He even umpired at square leg sitting down at one point.

So. Two wins out of two – a record run of victories – and a net run rate of 2.07 puts the Sultans in a strong position a third of the way through the season.

In this crucial month of four league games, we appear to be hotter than July.

Malcolm, known for his pace, if not his accuracy, was promoting the DVD release of Windies film Fire In Babylon and as part of his duties he worked up a head of steam against a handful of journalists. Wilson was among them.

The video evidence of this encounter can be seen below, and explains why Wilson’s appearence at No. 3 in the order is under threat.

Sadly Devon wouldn’t commit to a Sultans run out later this season, although the oppo shouldn’t rule it out…

Wilson won the toss and, amazingly given it’s never happened before, chose to have a bat

Sultans of Swing CC Innings:

Birkett – c. fielder b. Lewy – 1
Faint – c. wk b. Elliot – 5
C Wilson – lbw Lewy – 1
Skinner † – b. Tonkinson – 38
Dainty – c&b Laight – 36
J Wilson – c. fielder b. Elliot – 18
Earnshaw – c. fielder b. Edwards – 0
Renwick – bowled Elliot – 16
Clarke – not out – 5
Morgan – bowled Late – 5
Conley – not out – 10

Bowling (overs, maidens, wickets, runs):

Elliot: 6-1-3-19
Lewy: 6-1-2-22
Hassey: 6-0-0-20
Laight: 6-0-2-23
Tonkinson: 6-1-1-20
Edwards: 5-0-1-37

Extras: 27

TOTAL: 162-9 (35 overs)

Brockwell 49ers Innings:

Tonkinson – bowled Conley – 0
Smart – bowled Earnshaw – 1
Laight – bowled Earnshaw – 5
Evans – bowled Morgan – 1
Gloucester – bowled Earnshaw – 0
Brichto – c. Wilson b. Conley – 0
Elliot – bowled Clarke – 12
Hassy – c. Faint b. Clarke – 35
Lewy – c. Dainty b. Conley – 10
Partridge – bowled Clarke – 0
Edwards – not out – 1

Extras: 15

TOTAL: 80 all out (24.5 overs)

Bowling (overs, maidens, wickets, runs):
Conley: 4.5-0-3-15
Earnshaw: 4-2-3-6
Morgan: 5-1-1-22
J Wilson: 6-1-0-17
Clarke: 4-3-3-8
C Wilson: 1-0-0-2

Result: Sultans of Swing CC won by 82 runs

Full written match report HERE

It seemed the new season had started the same way the last ended. The Sultans stricken on 10/3, the first three batsmen going down as cheaply as Helen Wood. Same meat, different gravy, and not the greatest of introductions to league cricket.

To follow 2010’s template further still, the middle order was required to make some kind of fightback, and then some, to try and at least salvage some pride.

With a combination of luck and skill, Dainty and Skinner did just that.

The ying-and-yang pairing survived a few scares, in particular from the sharp bowling of Elliot, before settling into a handsome groove of comfortable singles punctuated by satisfying boundaries.

In particular a pull from Dainty and a lofted on-drive from Skinner were shots of note.

Only the thought of his maiden 50 put Dainty off his stroke, spooning a sharp return catch to the left-armer, with Skinner swiftly following suit.

A handy knock from Dicko plus a wagging tail and a last over which went for five wides took the Sultans to a respectable 162-9 – a competitive total on a pitch that had shown enough variable bounce to leave the bowlers with something other than home-made carrot cake to chew on over tea.

And then from across the way came the parky in his 4×4, with a scrap of paper that said we should be playing on that pitch, not this, because there was another game about to start and they didn’t want players colliding in the outfield(s).

Rotters. Someone should have also told the 49ers fielders who had earlier provided some Harold Lloyd-style entertainment by falling over one another while fielding in the deep.

So having won the toss and elected to bat first on the greenish top the Sultans upped sticks, literally, and prepared to send a few down on the mystery new pitch.

Conley took the first over, bowling down the slope, and immediately showed the trademark aggression and accuracy which made him the Sultan’s No 1 bowler by a country mile last year.

Debutant Earnshaw joined him in the new new-ball pairing. The Bowler With No Run-Up had impressed in the nets, even when sending down off-spin.

But nothing had prepared us for the Fire In Hampstead unleashed by the newcomer – and especially not Skinner who saw his first ball fly by for four byes.

The next 11 deliveries were completely on the money. Fast, accurate, nasty, with the timbers smashed not once but three times in astonishing opening salvo.

The Curtley to Earnshaw’s Courtney, Conley seemed to pick up pace and a lifting delivery saw their No. 6 fend to Wilson who made amends for his miserable show with the bat (again) by taking a leaping two-handed catch above his head at first slip. Easily the champagne moment of the match.

When Morgan replaced Earnshaw – because he was looking too damn dangerous and went on to finish with figures of 3/6 – and took a wicket with a rank full-bunger that was barely legal it wasn’t clear who was more shell-shocked: The Sultans or the 49ers. Probably us, I’d say. At drinks we had them at 60-6 – “Which is good,” as the cricket sage Skinner noted.

As earlier, the middle order restored some sanity by digging in before unleashing some flashing strokeplay to punish any grot dropped short or on the leg-side (by Morgan, natch).

The wristy Hassy struck a couple of boundaries including a big six to provide some hope of a recovery. But then came Boss.

The player’s player of the year in 2010, Boss often went unrewarded and indeed punished despite some fine shows with the ball.

Not today. From the off he was seaming and swinging the ball before teasing Duffy into a misjudged slash outside the off-stump to Faint, who showed excellent hands in taking a falling catch at a square-ish third man.

Dander up, Boss then took two further quick wickets to leave the 49ers hanging on by a thread.

The only bowlers to go unrewarded were unlucky Wilson J – surely the best cricketer the Basque region has ever seen – and Wilson C whose leg-spin had the parabola of a Chuck Yeager space mission. The ball nearly came down with a parachute on, it went so high.

Back came Conley to wrap up the innings, with a mis-timed drive prompting a safe catch at mid-off from the ever-reliable Dainty.

The Sultans went into raptures and to the top of the table on net run rate

Disregarding the slow start, from the batting to the fielding and especially the bowling we were bang on top of our game and controlled the match.

Frankly, we might never play so well ever again. But let’s hope we do.

Result: Sultans of Swing won by 82 runs

Scorecard and gallery to follow

Brockwell 49ers 80 all out (Hassy 35; Earnshaw 3/6, Clarke 3/8, Conley 3/15)

Sultans Of Swing beat Brockwell 49ers by one wicket to win first-ever league game.

Brilliant middle order fightback after shaky start lays foundation before Sultans seamers go on wicket spree.

Report and table, which we probably now top, to follow.

The 49ers played and won last weekend, so we must put an end to their winning ways and make a break for the top of the table.

The game is a 35-over affair at Hampstead Heath Extension. Map below. Nearest tube is Golders Green.

Hampstead Way, NW11 is the best place to leave your car if driving, or get dropped of if getting a taxi from Golders Green.

It’s a 12pm start, so can we please all be there at 11am-ish to help set up and have a bit of fielding practice before the off.

Don’t forget your whites (I have a few Sultans shirts, but not much else). Tea will be provided, and match fees are likely to be £12 inc. tea.

Cheers,

Skip

PS. Those who live in N16 and driving let me know as there are likely to be a few people who need lifts. Including me.