First amongst seconds

The 2nd XI travelled to Rayleigh for a rare game against another 2nd XI without skipper Lee Ramduth who was taking in the delights of Rome, Craig Ivey taking the reins in his absence. The first point to note was that the Dagenham economy seems to be on the up, as only last season sides were being selected with one eye on transport, whereas on this occasion, the 2nd team meet resembled the new series of Top Gear, with even Afzal arriving in a car.

Arriving at Rayleigh, the convoy largely either went into the wrong entrance (their 3/4th XI ground) or drove straight past and executed a three point turn on a busy road, but when the team finally assembled in the car park they joined a large gathering, as the Rayleigh site has three pitches, with the club turning out six sides on a Saturday, the lower sides soon scattering to the out pitches – great to see!

Upon inspection of the pitch (hard, dry, bit of grass to keep the bowler interested) and the weather forecast (no rain), skipper Ivey decided to shelve any thoughts of bowling first after some erratic 2’s batting to date this season and consequently when he won the toss, he sent word to his gangly openers that they should strap their pads on. Messers Scott and Bird were greeted by a fairly typical 2’s opening partnership, the youthful Sullivan charging in to generate some pace and bounce and the experienced Law bowling military line and length.

With Aaron unexpectedly taking his time to get used to the pitch, the early impetus was provided by Birdy, who pulled confidently and drove expansively, his confident pull going straight to the only man out on the leg side, who fortunately let the catch go through his flailing arms (a favour Mark was keen to reciprocate later on) and his expansive drive yielding a boundary over the slip cordon. However after a run a ball 15, Birdy thrust his new New Balance pads down the line of middle, where they were struck by the ball before he could get his old Puma bat round the corner, umpire Billy Chapman sending him on his way to reflect on his continued refusal to use his new bat.

Birdy’s dismissal brought Tommy Puncher to the crease and it would be fair to say that it took a while for Tommy to get up to speed with a bouncier track and a lively opening bowler after his elevation from the 3’s. Tommy spent the first five overs dropping his hands, taking blows to the body and generally mistiming anything he got his bat on, and whilst there’s no disgrace in that, as it’s what Kurt does every week, it came as something of a relief when he started to knock the ball around with a bit more intent. By this time, Aaron was starting to bat with confidence and it therefore came as something of a surprise when with the score at 86-1 in the 24th over he offered a sharp return chance to the lumbering Wretton, the big medium pacer taking that chance with obvious glee to send Aaron back to the hut with 40 to his name.

With wickets in hand skipper Ivey promoted Afzal to number 4, alive to the fact that in tandem with the equally speedy Puncher, some runs could be stolen between the wickets. The plan worked well for 5 minutes of frantic tip and run before, in a development that the watching middle order were not remotely surprised by, Tommy hit one to mid-on, scampered through and was runout by a direct hit. He was replaced by Lol, which very much meant a return to plan A on the run stealing front…

In the event Lol batted beautifully, enjoying the pace in the pitch and unveiling his off-side strokeplay honed over 35 years of getting leg side of everything. Lol batted through to the end for 44* and he had support from Afzal with a typically frantic 25, Billy Chapman with a typically punchy 20 and Harry Jackson with a cleanly struck late cameo that helped the 2’s to 200 for the first time this season, the innings closing at 200-7, Wretton with 4-50 was the main wicket taker for Rayleigh.

After a sumptuous tea featuring 3 types of sandwich, pizza, chicken nuggets, numerous crisps and savoury snacks, melon, strawberries and scones with jam and cream, the Rayleigh reply started steadily in the face of some quick bowling from Shaun Ross and some accurate stuff from Daryl Forward with home skipper Frost getting a let off when Aaron could only parry a sharpish catch round the post at gully. Forward did eventually remove Frost and followed up with the wicket of Law as he followed up last week’s 6 wicket haul with an impressive 8 overs 1 maiden 2 for 18. Unfortunately he also had a 9th over, by which time Rayleigh opener Lynch had assessed the situation and at 35-2 from 17 overs decided that some aggression was required, taking 16 off that over.

With Rayleigh having changed gears, Harry Jackson also took some punishment and was replaced by skipper Ivey, with Richie Williams having replaced the excellent Ross from the pavilion end after 7 overs for 8 runs. The middle section of the game then became an interesting contest, with Rayleigh looking to open up and the bowlers employing contrasting methods to try to stop them doing so. Ivey utilised his full range of cutters and pace variations and Richie tried to bang the ball into the same square foot repeatedly, but with men back for the big shot both methods proved successful, despite some erratic fielding which saw at least 6 catches go down, possibly 8 if you include aerial balls hit straight to them that fielders were unable to get a hand on… as only Lynch with 48 was able to cut loose even sporadically.

Special mention for Mark Bird’s drop here, which featured a range of frantic arm waving and head shaking not seen since Scott Barwick's heyday, all designed to indicate that the sun may have been a factor. Birdy did redeem himself later by holding a chance at point, but at this stage Aaron seems to be slightly ahead in the gangly opening bat motor skills race. Special mention too for Tommy Puncher’s drop which was of the more straightforward, ball hit straight up into the air & popped out of his hands as it lobbed gently down variety.

Ivey finished with 3 for 15 from his 6 overs and the Yorkshireman returned the most Richiesque figures of 10-1-28-2 before Shaun came back fully rested to blow away the tail with 3 wickets in successive balls, a run out preceding two golden ducks as Shaun’s full straight and quick method proved sufficient for the Rayleigh tail, the hosts eventually being dismissed for 115, with Shaun taking 2 for 9 from 8 overs.

The 2’s next encounter is with early season pacesetters Writtle, with at least 3 changes required given the unavailability of both opening bowlers and one opening bat. Skipper Ramduth, Craig Irving, Lee Jones and returning uni boys Gaymer and Greaves being in the mix to come in for this crucial game.