Southgate Claim BECC Win
Maccabi Sunday League Cricket
Belmont & Edgware 130 Michael Blasebalk (36), Keith Aizen (31)
Southgate 133-6 Ray Bean (5-33), Paul Bean (3-22)
Southgate win by 4 wickets
Sunday, 11 May, 2008
On a very hot Sunday, ex-captain Michael Blasebalk won the toss and decided that it was best for his understrength second team to bat first.
With one wicket down after two balls, this may have been a bad decision. However, he and Harvey Samuels (11) saw off the next ten overs, despite a possible catch behind that changed the tone of the comments by the fielding side.
After a questionable LBW Keith Aizen joined his captain and the run rate increased. He was eventually dismissed for 31 and then a mini collapse threatened to end the innings.
However, Blasebalk steadied the ship with support from Philip Mayer (16). After 32 overs he finally played an aerial shot and was dismissed for 36. The tail wagged until the 38th over when 130 was on the board. Ray Bean's 5-33 and Paul Bean's 3-22 were the bowling highlights.
In reply Southgate also lost early wickets at regular intervals. Only Lee Stuart (29) and Richard Mitchell (22) looked likely to make big scores. Jack Mendel's 2-26 and Keith Aizen's 2-30 were the pick of the bowlers. Early season cobwebs lead to a number of leg side wides affecting both sides, but one or two expensive overs are costly when trying to protect a low score. The winning runs were scored in the 28th over.
A special mention has to go to Harvey Samules who stepped in as keeper at the last moment and did a good job. Stopping most deliveries with some part of his body.
Questionable umpiring decisions and the inability of some players to accept a ruling meant that what might have been a good game deteriated into an unpleasent fixture. It's a shame that this kind of behaviour is connected with Jewish cricket.
