Six-hitting Sajj wins battle of the big hitters as duel in the sun goes Cincers' way

Vis, Croatia:
They say it doesn't rain here much in the summer.
Well, yesterday it did - except substitute rain drops for cricket balls.
Cincinnati kicked off the 2013 Tour yesterday with a deluge of sixes from big-hitters Sajj and Jilesh.
Hosts Sir William Hoste CC, the Vis club, also merrily cleared the boundaries.
But after a day under the boiling hot Croatian sun, it was the Cincers' big guns who prevailed.
Winning the toss (for once), the Skip opted to bat with the Chairman and Dee opening up.
Dee got the ball rolling.
First ball of the second over, he smashed a full toss over the mid-wicket (where else?) for six.
Sadly, that was the highlight of the Dee day.
Trying to repeat the maximum, he played across a low full toss and was bowled.
He wandered off fuming that the Skip, umpiring, had not given a no ball (that'll teach him to trigger the Captain lbw a couple of games back).
Enter left-hander Jilesh to join Tim R.
The partnership prospered despite some fine bowling from Vis opener Lenko.
The Chairman hit a couple of boundaries while Jilesh went for just about every single going (and some that weren't).
it was going swimmingly until Tim, on 20, hammered a ball to midwicket.....and stood in astonishment as the fielder (a Scotsman on his honeymoon) took an extraordinary catch.
The ball struck him full on the leg before somehow ending up in his hands.
The Vis fielders could not believe their luck.
But their celebrations were not to last. What followed was a deluge of boundaries.
Sajj, Dee's son and our potent number four, started with a single.
Thereafter, he traded mostly in boundaries - six fours and six sixes.
At the other end, Jilesh also put the hosts to the sword.
Vis looked dazed as the blitz took Cincers racing past 100 and making it look certain we would double it by the end of our allotted 30 overs.
On 69, Sajj eventually fell - caught on the long-on boundary.
Oh, off a girl bowler as it happened!
Thereafter, the Cincers slowed but the damage had been done.
Jilesh sportingly retired two short of his 50 to give others a go.
There were cameos from Stephen Hall (27 before retiring), 28 n/o from Frank and 18 from new recruit Nick R (the scorebook says 10 but he insists it was 18 and he's a barrister. Don't want this to end in court).
Oh and there was a minuet of an innings from Westie who reckons these days he should be opening the innings.
First, he walked to a bump ball catch before being called back by Vis skip Craig.
Next ball, he was given LB by Dee.
TV replays suggest it pitched outside off but hit in front.
Richard H and his Very Big Bat only faced a couple of balls but he wanted a mention for his 3.5lb railway sleeper so here it is.
We finished on a impressive 247 for 5.
After a beer-fuelled lunch at Oliver Roki's restaurant nearby, we took the field.
With all those runs in the bank, we could afford to take it easy.
But initially, it was over to birthday boy Chris (31 yesterday) to open up.
He was desperately unlucky not to snaffle a couple of wickets.
Frank, at the other end, did bag a wicket and would have had another if it wasn't for a no-ball.
With the rate climbing towards 10 an over, offspinner Richard came on to immediate effect - a wicket first ball smartly pouched by Tim at first slip.
it turned into a wicket maiden.
At the other end, Stephen H - ever the reluctant bowler - produced a rapid but wild spell that, byes apart, yielded just four runs off four overs.
Mission impossible for a batting side?
Well, time then surely for the Skip to change that by introducing his own flighted filth of non-spinning leggies and deceptively straight-oners.
Needless to say, most of them got what they deserved - fours or sixes.
In fact, so heavy was the leather raining down on his vineyard next door - especially when Vis's Craig was batting - that winegrower Oliver Roki must have been worried about this year's harvest.
'Hmm..this year, the reds have a funny, leathery, seamy bouquet..'
Eventually, the skip finally got one to turn a fraction and Sajj at fine leg took a brilliant catch before the ball crossed the boundary.
With Craig gone, any faint hopes of a Vis victory went too.
There was time for Sajj to enter the fray with his leggies and for his dad to pull off a very smart stumping - one of two; he also had one off Richard.
By the way, Richard has asked that his one over which got hammered for 19 is barely mentioned in the match report sso there's just this one little mention of it.
Vis ended up at 191 for seven - 56 short.
Many thanks to Craig, Oliver and all at the Vis club for their fine hospitality.

Cincers survive top order meltdown after Shahbaz and Rockie tame the Tigers

Bowlers coming out of our ears but a batsman or two light.
The line-up for our bout v Judd St Tigers (formerly West XI) shouted 'win the toss and bowl first'.
So the Skip duly lost it and got put in.
He and Tim R opened in a bid to set a solid base but every proper batsman's allowed a failure and Test Match duly feathered one to the keeper early on.
Tight Tigers' bowling - especially from Chris W at the Heath end - kept the runs to a trickle.
The slide got underway when the Skip, pushing one to cover at the other end, called a quick single.
New signing Shah, the non-striker, didn't move. Not an inch.
A livid captain was left stranded and unamused.
Shah spectacularly failed to make up for the shambles by getting himself bowled and when another new signing - Paul - came and went for zilch and Dan P was LB for 2, we were staring down the barrel at 30-odd for five.
Thank goodness, therefore, for Shahbaz.
Batting at six (he didn't want to bat higher because he was keeping), he and Rockie (making another welcome return) turned the tide.
In fact, they opened the floodgates.
Shahbaz began to punish the Tigers' bowling with rasping fours and three sixes.
Despite not having batted much for a couple of years, Rockie also got into the runs - ones and twos at first, then boundaries.
When Shahbaz went for 72, in came James S and proceeded to use Richard H's 'railway sleeper' (apparently, it is a cricket bat as well) to great use.
One six hurtled high into the trees behind the bowler's arm.
James finished on 27 while Rockie strode off on 44 not out.
A total of 179 off 35 was competitive if not impregnable.
What followed was Tigers' innings where they kept up with the rate but kept losing wickets as well.
Only one of their batters got over 20 with the rest getting into the teens at best.
James S struck early with a clean bowled and then - wonder of wonders - an LB decision in his favour though watching Tigers had their doubts over it.
Shahbaz kept well, taking a sharp chance off Chris P.
Just when Tigers seemed to be putting a stand together, the same bowler frightened the life out of batsman Chris D with one that reared off a shortish length.
Taking evasive action, the poor man ended up on his backside with only a dislodged bail for company.
Out - hit wicket.
Chris W for Tigers threatened but when he went on 25 to a sharp catch by Shah (hmm..so he can move quickly!) off Tim R, the game looked up.
The Skip opting not to bowl, it was left to Tim to take some tap in this game but he still ended up with a three for.
Cincers' Man of the Match: Shahbaz.
* Game played on August 25.

Joy of six for swing man Murphy as Cincers scuttle Actors for just 31 (yes, 31) runs

They're record-breaking figures in a record-breaking match.
Never before has Cincers dismissed an oppo for such a paltry score.
And never before has a Cincinnatian returned bowling figures of six for 8 off 5.2 overs.
Step forward new recruit Simon M.
Poor old Actors simply had no answer to him on a Greenwich Park pitch with more than usual variable bounce.
Yes, Simon was helped by the bounce (or lack of it).
And yes, Actors didn't help themselves by going back to him when it was already obvious the only course was to come warily forward.
But to take six wickets (four of them clean-bowled) while conceding barely as many runs was exceptional.
Abid (can't remember if he was late or not - what's the betting?) chipped in with two wickets.
And Actors trudged off with just 31 on the board off 18.2 overs.
We hard a minor drama getting the runs - we lost four wickets getting there but the result was not exactly in doubt.
Oh and we won the following 'beer match' too!
Cincers Man of the Match: Simon M.
Thanks to Richard H for doing the tea.
* Game played on June 2.

Test Match - with a little help from the Skip - steers Cincers to season's 2nd victory over Camel

Skittling Camel for just 121, surely this was a game Cincers were never going to lose.
Or was it?
At a nervous 20-odd for 3, with Dee, Saqi and Harry all back in the hutch, it suddenly didn't look that easy.
So it was time to return to a partnership from yesteryear.
Tim R - 'Test Match' - resolute at one end.
And at the other, the Skip - promoting himself (at Harry's suggestion beforehand) - to number five.
Given how feeble the Captain's scoring now is, it remain a bizarre fact of Cincers' history that the club's first-ever opening standing of 100 was....Tim R and him (Whitstable...many moons ago now).
'Don't believe it,' says everyone reading this.
Anyhow, there we were at Hampstead Heath Extension, still needing nearly 100 with all the main batsmen gone apart from opener Tim.
With gallons of overs to go, though, it was tailor-made for the Skip's range of shot (none apart from the judicious leave outside off).
Watchfully, the pair saw off Camel's main bowlng threat and gradually upped the scoring rate.
Well, Tim did.
Rocket-fuelled this partnership wasn't but it took us into the 90s when Dee triggered the Skip for being LB.
He'd scored a humungous 10.
Dee's a qualified umpire so there's no point arguing.
His place in the future batting order, however, is another matter!
Faisal came in and smashed 15 in about four balls before holing out but by then we were nearly there.
We crossed the line with over 10 overs in reserve.
Tim carried his bat to end on 65 not out - a quality innings with as at Charlton Park, barely a chance given.
Earlier, Dee went for a duck while Saqi couldn't reprise his heroics of Ham.
He was given LB for 2 while Harry, after playing one of the shots of the season (a lightning pull to leg) holed out at mid-on next ball.
Our bowling was steady.
Richard could have had three but had to settle for one.
The Skip dropped a straight-forward chance off his bowling and then rubbed salt in the wound by getting three wickets himself (two smart stumpings by Dee and a fine catch by Tim at silly mid-off).
New recruit Ali (who played for Actors the week before) was the star with 3 for 13 off 7.
Thanks to Camel for providing the hospitality and tea for the day.

Cincers put Actors to the sword as first Selfish and then Saqi cut lose (oops - mind that car!)

It was like old times.
'Selfish' Simon Bevan hogging the strike and notching yet another 50.
It was almost cruel to tell an under-strength Actors that this was probably the new father's only game of the season.
The annual trip to Ham near Richmond was preceded by pleas from Actors for players.
We obliged but unlike against BK, our generosity was tempered by realism.
The Skip made sure that of the extra players on offer, the bowling of Faisal and firepower of new recruit Saqi stayed with us.
Actors also had to field a wicket keeper for the day, courtesy of us, who was a 10-year-old lad.
That said, young Joe kept superbly, took a stunning catch and a smart stumping.
Our innings - 236 for 6 off 35 with Bevan 58 and Dee 30 opening up.
The fireworks came from Saqi who like Ali, is obviously a devotee of the IPL forward defensive - also known as a whopping great six over long off.
He hit some fearsome blows in his 78 - none more so than the one which hit a car (pretty new one) parked by the tennis courts.
Actors were well under strength and it showed.
A total of 65 all out with no-one scoring more than seven was all they could muster.
The only real highlight was the aforementioned young Joe keeping Cincers at bay for his 4 not out and batting for over after over with his dad Paddy.
Our bowling figures reflected the dominance, with Simon M notching 2 for 13 off 3 and new recuit Saurabh 1 for 7 off 3.
Oh, and there was another very welcome returnee for the day: Richard de Q who had one for 12 off 2.
Thanks as usual to Actors (especially Richard Hayles and skipper Jamie) for hosting us.

Hadlow wins it for Cincers at the death after Tom carries his bat (if not his water bottle)

A nerve-shredder, this one.
Set 170 to win, London Saints came perilously close.
Six needed off the last over and only five wickets down.
If it wasn't for Richard H holding his nerve and sending down a miserly six balls, they would have won.
Back to the start.
Tom was the main man in the batting line-up and he delivered - albeit by bringing out some strange contraption so he could drink at regular intervals without taking his helmet off.
Some idiot (the Captain,of course, while umpiring) had to hold this while Tom batted.
He and Dee started well, until Dee got a nosebleed when he was 18 and got bowled.
(That elusive 50 is actually there for the taking....if only he'd get his head down!).
After that, we struggled.
Dan Porter laboured and the overs ticked by.
Tom was also tiring in the heat.
But Dan suddenly found a gear and ended up with an invaluable 36.
Faisal came in and smashed 10 in quick order while Tom carried his bat to end 78 not out.
Cincers closed on 169 for 5 off 35.
Not a bad total to defend but we were may be one seamer light on the day.
We started well, though, and began to push the rate up.
But the crux was always going to come when the spinners came on.
So it was.
The Skip and Richard got a bit of grief though if catches had been held, the grief would have been Saints'.
But it wasn't and all of a sudden, they were up with the rate.
Crucially, Chris P returning at one end got a wicket when Ben snaffled a chance in the deep (Ben, Cincers' career advice - drop one off a seamer rather than one off the Skip!).
Simon M also took a simply stunning catch at shortish mid-off (off James's bowling) to bring another new batter in.
And so to the final over.
Sensing it might well be curtains, the Skip volunteered to take the flack. So did Dee.
But no, Hadlow insisted.
He only went for four!
Cincers the winners by one run.
Pass the smelling salts.

Tide goes out on under-strength Cincers as Whitstable run out easy winners at the seaside

Excuses in first.
After fielding full-strength sides (and even helping opponents out with players), we ran out of steam in Whitstable.
Annoying that we had to scrape around for players as this is one of the best fixtures in the calendar.
There's always a warm welcome from friendly opponents who always roll out the red carpet (er, that means a very good tea among other things).
Right, moan - and excuses - over.
Whitstable Labour Club racked up 212 for 7 off 38 (time game).
One of our recruits for the day - Andy Bau - got a three-for while another Andrew (surname of Boughton) did a sterling stint of 10 overs (1 for 60).
Rockie was a welcome return to the fold and turned in a neat performance with his in-swingers while Tim R bowled a tight spell of 0 for 34 off 9.
But chasing a total like that was always going to be tough.
Labour Club have some canny bowlers
When Tim went for just 16, it felt like it was not going to be our day.
Dee scored fluently (as ever) for 34 but when he too departed, it was skittles time.
In vain, the Skip, batting at eight, tried to reprise his heroics of yesterday (seven in 90 minutes to save a game on a long-ago Devon tour).
But he ran out of partners.
We finished at 71 all out.
Actually, we finished in the Labour Club where the beer flowed.
Ah well, there's always next year.

Ring bells! Uncork the champers! Slicc finally fall to Cincers after Ali thinks he's in the IPL

This was a result to savour - all the more so, because a few overs out, we were still losing.
At last, a victory over Slicc.
The team that, in our brief series of encounters so far, always seem to better us.
The side that last year had us 2 for six (and the two were leg byes).
So when the Skip, umpiring, signalled the wide that gave us the win, it was a sweet moment.
The heroes? Quite a few of them, actually.
We started in the field with Big Dan making his debut and frightening the wits out of the oppo with his Harmison-like bounce and pace.
Shahbaz, newly restored to Cincers, had his hands full keeping.
We bowled very well at times with Dan restricting them to 18 off seven (1 wicket) and Ali swing-bowling like it was on the end of a string (2 for 33 off 8).
New signing Faisal also bowled as did Majid (2 for 31 off six) but the rest of us let the side down a bit.
Now, this being a Slicc game, there was more than a smidgen of edge to the proceedings - especially over the odd umpiring decision!
But Slicc finished on a formidable 246 for 4 off their allotted 40 with their captain notching 115 not out.
To blunt their renowned in-swing bowler Dan, Cincers opened with the Skip and Abid...in a bid to blunt the swerve.
It half-worked.
The Skip was skittled in the third over but Abid clung on (controversially, thought Slicc) before departing for seven.
Sadly, although he wasn't aware at the time, Tim M broke a finger (badly, as it happens) when he came to the crease before he was bowled (for 14) by a superb out-swinger from Slicc skip Will.
Despite new signing Tariq scoring 31 and Shahbaz 44, we were falling slowly behind the rate.
At 156 for eight and needing eight or so an over, surely it was all over.
Enter Ali and Faisal.
The two sharpshooters simply blasted their way out of trouble.
At first, Slicc probably thought it was just a futile flurry before the inevitable.
I know we did.
But the deadly duo just kept swinging - making fours out of good balls and the odd six out of bad ones.
When Faisal eventually fell for 36 and with 20-odd still needed with just one wicket to go, Slicc must have thought it was in the bag.
But Ali promptly smashed 12 in three balls.
Big Dan had to face with only an handful needed.
Was he fazed? Was he hell as like.
His long reach hit a single and then a couple.
One needed for victory.
And so to that final umpire's decision.
A wide to savour in the long cold winter's nights to come!
Extra of the season - it's in the bag.
News update: Abid wasn't very late. For once.

Masterclass by the Chairman can't save Cincers as short-staffed BK run out the winners

There'll be a time when we'll see the funny side.
Desperate for players, BK issued an impassioned plea for help - and we gave them Shahbaz and Ali.
And what do they do?
Only smash 93 between them to help BK to an improbable 243 for 5 off only 35.
As I say, we'll see the funny side of this one day. But not yet.
In reply, what we got was a masterly innings from Tim R.
'Pace' George, but this is probably destined to be the innings of the season.
Chanceless but up with the pace required.
A sort of Ian Bell-meets-Jonathan Trott performance - gritty, stubborn but fluent.
No-one else for Cincers even hit double figures until Majid late in the day scored 21.
We ended up 20-odd runs short because no-one else could support the Chairman.
George, opening with Tim, went early again.
Dee seemed to have a dinner date as he absently-mindedly swished across the line and was LB.
Tom? Tom was run out.
He wasn't happy but this report is happy to let him tell you why.
As for our performance in the field, it was so/so.
Better than against Colfes (could it have been worse?)but not great.
It was our first time at Charlton Park and the vagaries of a short boundary on one side took some getting used to.
Naveed was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 38 off seven though Chris P was economical at 0 for 20 off six.
The rest of us did our duty. And got thumped.
Oh and Abid was late again.
But that's hardly news.

From the sublime to the ridiculous - or how Cincers fell to earth (as did all the catches)

It was the morning after the night before.
Cincers rolled up to new opponents Colfes flushed with the confidence from our extraordinary victory against Camel.
Chests out, heads high, we took the field on a day which began wet but blossomed into a lovely afternoon.
And we dropped virtually every catch going.
Not three or four. Probably nearer 20 as, God-like, we handed out life after life to a Colfeian batter.
Given we'd hit over 280 off 35, we weren't over-punished.
Old Colfeians took us for 182 for six off 35.
But in truth, they shouldn't have been anywhere near there.
Abid - who rolled up a customary 45 minutes or so late - was the top wicket-taker, th fanks to two stunning long-on catches by Chris P.
But everyone else didn't see a red ball coming towards them - they saw what looked like a plump pod of peas and promptly shelled it.
A curate's egg of a reply came from Cincers.
Tim R top-scored on 61 but there were simply not enough partnerships.
George, our hero from the week before, flourished with a four and then got an absolute grubber with his name engraved on it as it took off stump.
Running between the wickets was not our strength.
Five run-outs (surely a record for a Cincers' innings) testified to that.
A word, though, for our debutant - Harry.
He showed his potential with a fine 38 before he was....run out.
Simon M also chipped with 24.
We ended up 24 runs shy on 158 all out.
Not a performance to savour.
But thanks to our new opponents Old Colfeians for their fine hospitality!

By George! New signing smashes club batting record as Cincers crush shell-shocked Camel

'I can't bowl but I can bat....a bit.'
So said George with a shrug of the shoulders when asked whether he played cricket.
He should have added he was a master of understatement.
And not a bad imitator of Kevin Pietersen as well.
Cincinnati's new summer signing almost single-handedly crushed Camel at Greenwich Park.
His 173 - in a 35-over innings - was a New Year's fireworks of an innings.
Five sixes, 24 fours - boundaries to the right of them, boundaries to the left of them.
Camel weren't so much beaten as bewildered and then swept aside by opener George's extraordinary firepower which rarely veered from pure timing into brute force.
Churlish to note that he gave a few chances such was the grace of his strokeplay.
Is there space to mention anyone else in the batting line-up?
Yes. Tom, as George's opening partner, notched up a fine 51 to give Cincers' an impressive opening stand of over 100.
And after Tom was stumped, and another new signing - Kingsley - gave George further support.
There was only one cloud on George's day.
He was bowled on virtually the last ball of the innings.
Cincers finished on an phenomenal 282 for 5 off 35.
Camel has batted well in the past against us and skipper Guy started with purpose.
But sadly for them, no-one else really did. After Guy's 35, the next (apart from extras) was seven as Cincers ran through them like a dose of salts.
Majid and James made the early in-roads before Richard accounted for Guy LBW.
The Skipper cleaned up the tail with a three-for.
The total? Well, only 65.
A 217 run triumph.
Thanks, George.

Bad day at the office as OWs carpet off-form Cincers

Some match reports are best kept brief.
And this is one of them.
After pulling off a surprise victory a couple of years ago v OWs, we were always due for a revenge defeat.
And so it proved last month (May 19).
On a lightening quick outfield, the powerful OWs batting line-up whalloped us for 199 for 4 off 35 with few of the bowlers - Abid apart - coming up trumps.
In a wily old spell, Abid went for just 13 off 7 (with one wicket).
Zeeshan, a late call-up and making his second appearance for Cincers, also did well with some pacey opening stuff.
But a veil shall be drawn over much of the rest - including one who went for over 10 an over!
We were poor - and bad-tempered - in the field, and got what we deserved.
The reply?
We were rarely up with the rate but a star was born in the batting of debutant George A.
Opening up, George combined a very straight bat with some sumptious shots - none more so than the glorious pull-drive six over mid-on off a ball that was almost a good length.
OWs are a decent bowling attack and one of George's top-of-the-bounce check drives through cover was top drawer.
Sadly, he went for 33 (caught strangled down the leg-side).
Did I mention Dee's 'made my mind up before he bowled' shot?
The pre-emptive swipe turned out to have little to do with the ball and he was gone for a solitary single.
A fine half-century from Tim M (52) and Abid (26) kept OWs in the field though we were always off the pace.
Oh and there were gentle pleas from the watching Cincers, in a voice that sounded remarkably like Majid's - that Abid could have got 'more of a move on'.
Anyhow, we finished well of the pace at 153 for 7 off 35.
Cincers' Man of the Match: Abid for his miserly spell (bowling - not his batting!)

Forget 'Test Match' - it's Tim the '20/20' all-rounder as Cincers best BK in season's first win

Cincers made short work of old enemy BK thanks to a peerless all-round effort from Tim R.
The club chairman belied his 'Test Match' nickname and put BK to the sword in a quick-fire innings which won the game.
That was after he turned in a 4 for 23 spell to bring the oppo's innings to a rapid close.
After winning the toss and sticking themselves in, BK made steady progress till Chris P - in his new first-change slot - shook them up.
His 3 for 20 off 8 (40 over game, this) kept our old rivals right under the cosh.
Add some steady spin from Richard and an unusual bit of tight death bowling from the Skip (that's me), and BK got no further than 170 all out with one ball to spare of their allotted overs.
Enter a new opening combination of Tim and 'Daredevil' Dee who put on a brisk opening partnership that set us on the road to victory.
Where's there's a Cincers' innings, there's a hiccup.
And Dee duly provided that by belting down the track from the non-striker's end for a run that never was and being run out by a country mile.
Still, he had notched a rapid 33.
Tim continued on his merry way.
He knocked the stuffing out of BK by blocking the good balls but ruthlessly despatching the others to the boundary.
In other words, he played each delivery on its merits.
Apparently, it's in the coaching manuals.
As a result, we were always up with or over the rate.
When Test Match, sorry, Tonking Tim went for a fine 65, Simon M took over the reins before Tim M saw us safely over the line with four overs to spare.
There are other highlights but as this is being written weeks after the match (sorry), I can't remember them.
Was there something about a dropped catch off Richard H?
He'll tell us!
* Cincers' Man of the Match: Tim R.

Cincinnati - The Movie: 'Four cricket grounds and a car crash' (on the field of play, that is)

Above: Simon tries to show off with his textbook delivery stride but lets himself down with the non-regulation dark trim on the pocket. Tut tut!

At 2pm on Sunday (April 28) it was curses all round.
Our pitch was double-booked.
By 7pm, we were cursing that we'd found another one ...after getting royally thumped in the process.
Ah, the hallowed tradition of the Cincers season's curtain-raiser - chaos on and off the pitch, biting cold winds and clouds as low as the brim of the Skipper's pointlessly optimistic sun hat.
It was miracle the game ever happened at all.
Old Fallopians (there's an in-joke to the name), in theory our hosts for the day, pulled out on the Friday because their Parliament Hill ground was waterlogged.
But what a relief - Barnes Common near Richmond was available, so it was game back on.
Until we arrived there and discovered the pitch was already being used, by Barnes Common CC of all people.
Much milling around ensued during which Dee bailed out, saying he'd been offered a game by his son in Windsor (presumably with Her Majesty buttering the scones for tea).
But after two failed attempts to find an alternative wicket, we got one at a nearby sports centre.
The goose droppings on the outfield were a bit off-putting but it was otherwise perfectly playable.
A reduced 25-over game was agreed and the Skip (that's me) promptly kept up with hallowed tradition by losing the toss.
OF's captain Will opted to bat first.
It would be kindest to draw a veil over what followed.
Most of the bowlers (me included) would prefer that.
Let's just say that only new signing Simon Murphy and Richard H hit their straps.
Simon's 1 for 18 off 5 of nippy medium-pacers was the bowling performance of the day though Richard ('can I say something?') was unlucky not to bag a wicket.
But then, as Dee had legged it, Abid and Majid were our joint substitute keepers and struggled on the stumping chances.
In the field, we were poor - three catches spilled and the odd howler on the boundary.
A total of 200 for 2 off 25 was always a tough ask - especially as we were not overladen with batting and we needed eight an over.
Test Match (Tim R) opened up with the Skip (me again) with the idea of setting a base and storming to the summit.
We started OK with Tim whacking one six and the Skip getting off strike as soon as he could.
When he went (stumped_, in came Simon M.
(It should have been Abid but he couldn't find one of his pads. 'Who's taken one of my pads?' he asked a passing goose.)
Simon has looked good in the nets but in the middle, he was better than that.
Some crisp shots from the two batsmen produced murmurs of concern from OF's.
Then disaster.
Simon, clipping one wide of cover, called the single when he'd have been better shouting 'Waiting!'
Test Match was run out (by a country mile) to jubilation from our opponents.
Enter Abid, apparently having eased Tim's pain as he passed him by telling him that there was a run there!
Simon was distraught at the run-out but there's nothing like being yelled at by Abid to 'get a move on' to take your mind off a clanger.
But after some cultured shots, Simon skied one to point and departed for 20-odd.
Striding to the crease at number five was Alex 'Wowsher' Westie, all biceps and burly bravado.
Was this, big-hitting Westie and wily Abid, the combination to put Cincers right back on track?
Er, sadly not.
They started well but it rapidly became clear that there was nothing civil about this partnership.
One man's cries of 'hurry up, Westie!' were answered by yells of 'Shut up Abid!'
But that was mild compared to Alex's 'what the...!' reaction when he was triggered LB by Richard umpiring.
Kiwi Dan P, our second debutant of the day, then arrived to join Abid.
It was a brief partnership as Abid, trying to get a move on, was bowled round his legs by one of OF's sharper bowlers.
(Incidentally, our opponents had sportingly kept their quickest guys back till later given their huge score).
'Magic' Majid, with his bat borrowed from a Pakistani Test player (forgotten his name) then reminded the Skipper (me again) that he should have been up the order.
He played a couple of majestic shots to give Cincers' score a healthier look.
In between, Dan played a very fine back-foot drive to the point boundary only to see the ball pulled up just before the rope.
The pair were going well until a run-out intervened.
Racing the danger end for a debatable second, Dan was undone by a direct hit from the outfield.
New Zealand gent that he is, there was no backward glare at Majid for calling him for a dodgy second. The two were still on speaking terms after stumps.
But if that was a silly call, the next run-out was positively suicidal.
Majid was short of his ground by about six feet.
It was his own call so presumably he hasn't spoken to himself since.
That left the two heroes of Finchley 2012 at the crease - Chris H with his trademark old-style cricket cap and battling Chris P.
No repeat, though, of their daring deeds of last September.
Chris H departed, leaving Richard H as our last man (we were down one because of Dee's departure).
OF's fielders had much enjoyed Richard giving Alex some batting advice earlier from his umpire's position.
So there was much anticipation as the off-spinner took guard.
He glanced carefully round to assess the field and then readied himself.
With a meaningful stare, the bowler began his run-up before exploding into the delivery stride.
Across the river, a cormorant...OK, sorry, I'm stringing this out because Richard's innings only lasted one ball.
He got castled by an in-swinging yorker with one stump left pegged back in splendid isolation.
138 all out and game over.
Lessons learnt? In a desperate run-chase, pack the top order with whatever big hitters are available.
Oh and get that Pakistani Test cricketer mate of Majid's to play for us.
And keep on the phone to Dee because, as it happened, he didn't get a game with his son's team and so was available to play for us.
* A big thank you to Old Fallopians for being fine opponents and giving us a superb 'curry feast' of a tea.
And thanks also to Barnaby, Chris H's son, for fielding for us on a chilly afternoon.