Goodbye 2010 Cricket Season

Our blog for this season has finished. We hope you enjoy your winter as we look forward to England winning the ASHES down under.

AP in control!

Harrow's Sunday 2nd XI finished their Chess Valley League Season on a winning note. Losing the toss Harrow were inserted to bat and posted a very competitive 252 for 8 from their 50 overs. Shazad Shah again failed with the bat and James Han scored an impressive 50. Vikash, Clarky and Chris all chipped in with bat but non went on to make that big match winning score and with Harrow in a bit of a wobble in came Scott Ellis at number 6. Scott played sensibly to start with and then really got into the flow of things playing great cricketing shots both arial and along the ground to score his maiden Harrow fifty and eventually fell 65. At times he made batting look very easy showing just what a cool head on experienced shoulders can do. Young boys Hashim and Kamran also chipped in at the end with useful knocks to push the score on in the final stage on the innings.

Harrow opening bowlers in the form Johnathan and Kevan of got off to a reasonable start containing the batsmen very well to start with, however after the first wicket fell Brondersbury's number three batsman came in and decided to hit out and hit Harrow's opening bowlers at will to all parts of the ground. He was very fortunate on two occassions having been dropped comically by Chris Summersell at point and he also offered a slightly more difficult chance to James Han who failed to take a catch behind the stumps. With Harrow's first and second change bowlers Hashim and skipper AP also being hit for runs a change was needed as advised by both Vikash and Clarky. Scott Ellis and Clarky replaced bowlers AP and Hashim and Scott struck in his first over removing Brondersbury's dangerous number three batman for 81. After that Scott continued to impress with the ball and ending up picking 5 wickets for 25 runs of his 10 overs. Chris made up for his dropped catch by taking a stunning backwards running catch of the bowling off Scott. Clarky having bowled tight going for just 18 off his 6 overs was replaced by youngster Kamran Hussain foxing the tail took 3 for 13 off his 4.4 overs to seal Brondersbury fate. In the end Harrow ended up clear winners.

Skipper AP would like to thanks all the players and youngsters who starred throughout the season. He hopes they all enjoyed and learned alot playing in the side and would like to issue the following words in his closing statement...."Ra Roooo" and a "BRAP BRAP BRAP"..."Peace and LOVE till next season"

Junior Section End of Season Newsletter

It’s been another successful season as we coped with fewer coaches and more players than the previous season. We played a total of 59 matches, winning 31. Our 13 As & Bs both won their leagues & the As lost to Harrow St Mary’s in the North Area Cup Final. They also went out to Sunbury on league semi finals day .We also just failed to win our 19th trophy in the last decade. On the downside we have been unable to get any of our better 13s & 15s playing Sunday senior cricket due to their lack of availability.
U10s:
Our U10s had a great season ending on 2nd place in the Gubby Allen Tournament. They played (6), winning (4). We also have another crop of talented cricketers that hopefully we can develop in the years to come.

U11s:
Our U11s had a disappointing season with the talent in the team. Played (10), winning (2). They have the chance to regroup across the winter & develop their cricket in a positive manner.

U13s:
Both our U13s teams enjoyed great season’s as they finished in great style. Our 13sB won their league by winning every match & went on to meet a very strong Bessborough A team in the league play off. Unfortunately we couldn’t compete on the day & came out second best. Team spirit was great as they played with out any super stars & give us hope for the future. Matches played (10), winning (7).

Our 13As enjoyed a fantastic season winning their league as well as reaching the North Area Cup Final & they just failed to go all the way falling to Sunbury in the league County Semi Finals. They played 16 matches winning 11.

U15s:

Our U15s struggled to take wickets & put big totals on the board but they played with great spirit as they tried to remain in games throughout the season. Matches played (9), winning (1).

U17s:

Our U17s played 8 matches winning 5. They all look capable of playing senior cricket to a high standard & this should hold us in good stead in the years to come.

Annual Colts Week:

Our annual colt’s week is a great week & gives us a chance to see our boys develop in a longer format. It was disappointing for us to call it off due to lack of players. We will also have to have a rethink regarding our junior presentation evening.

Talented Players Programme:

We are planning on reinstating our TPP & we will identify players across the winter allowing us to work with them on a separate training night in the summer. We are hoping to invite 15 players to join the programme in the spring.

Winter Academy:

We have a very busy winter training programme in place & this will allow us to work across our 10s, 11s, 13s, & 15s age groups. Clear goals & objectives will be set allowing us to improve our young cricketers ready for the 2011 season. An end of winter assessment will be provided prior to our outdoor pre season training allowing our players to have clear goals & objectives for the 2011 season.

2011:

We may change our structure for the 2011 cricket season. This could mean separate training nights, smaller squads & Sunday afternoon matches. This will depend on the number of coaches & players that we decide to work with.

Special thank all our coaches & managers who operate as volunteers. They give a lot of their free time to help develop our junior cricketers. Thanks to Pete Atfield, Alan Smith, Neil Rands, Carl Clarke, Mozza & Divyesh Patel.

Plus a special mention to our four ECB Young Leaders, Alex Atfield, Kishan Patel, Kevan David-Joseph & James Han.

Outstanding Vosloo

Harrow pulled off a quite amazing comeback on Saturday despite having been outplayed for most of it by league leaders Winchmore Hill.

Batting first the top order was blown away by some disciplined Winchmore Hill bowling. At one point Harrow were 78-8 with new ball bowlers Gatting (4-46) and Thorpe (4-52) doing the damage? The last two wickets managed to scramble another 45 runs thanks to Michiel Vosloo and Avinash Karia, but the home team were still bowled out for a paltry 123. Harrow's plight was further emphasised by the humiliation of having to come out and field for 45 minutes before the tea interval! After tea Winchmore Hill carried on from where they left off and proceeded sedately to 66-2, requiring only 58 more runs to win.

What followed was scarcely believable and surely the most amazing hour of cricket seen at Payne’s Folly for many a year. Opening bowler Michiel Vosloo has been a revelation this season as much for his never say die attitude as his skilled pace bowling. He ran in hard and hussled the Winchmore Hill batsman until something eventually gave way. Suddenly they found themselves wobbling at 84-5 with all five wickets falling to Vosloo. Panic seemed to take hold of the remaining batsmen and thanks to superb support from Tushaar Karia at the other end 84-5 became 92-7 and then in a flash, thanks to a great slip catch by Anant Brahmbhatt and an equally brilliant run out from Nikin Ruperalia, the scoreboard showed 95-9. There was still time for some tense moments as the visitors edged to within a few boundary hits from victory, but the momentum had shifted so quickly and completely that when Tushaar Karia trapped the last man LBW it seemed as though the result had been inevitable. The last eight Winchmore Hill wickets had fallen for 44 runs as Vosloo finished with outstanding figures of 16-1-50-7 and Karia with excellent supporting figures of 16-1-49-2.

It is not the first time this season that Harrow have come back to win a game that they had no right to win, but demonstrated once again a great team spirit and determination about this current Harrow side.

Magnificent Vosloo

MCCL Sat 14 Aug; AwaySouthgate 204-9 (55) Vosloo 7-64 Harrow 11-0 (3)
Match abandoned

A magnificent bowling performance from Michiel Vosloo went in vain on Saturday as the weather had the last word with Harrow's match at Southgate having to be abandoned at the half way point. Batting first, Southgate were in trouble early on thanks to an inspired spell of hostile fast bowling from Vosloo. Moving the ball consistently both ways at a lively pace, he took the first four wickets to reduce Southgate to 83-5. A fifty run 7th wicket partnership restored some order to the Southgate innings, but Vosloo returned to pick up two more wickets for a match return of 7-64 off 19 over’s. Harrow were left to chase 205 to win in a maximum of 45 over’s, but at 11-0 after 3 over’s the rain that had threatened all day finally arrived as a deluge and forced the match to be abandoned.

Middlesex Cup, Sun 15 Aug, Home Harrow 169 (44.5) Walker 45, Clarke 5-41

Teddington 170-6 (42) Keightley 65*, Wood 56*, Vosloo 3-20
Teddington won by 4 wickets


A fantastic game on Sunday saw Harrow fall tantalisingly short of a Middlesex Cup final berth. Harrow lost a very crucial toss and were put in to bat on a green damp wicket. The Teddington bowlers made full use of the helpful bowling conditions to reduce Harrow to 28-3 and then 57-6. Apart from 45 from Dave Walker, the top order struggled to come to terms with the bowling and the conditions. Once the sun came out, conditions started to ease and batting became easier enabling the lower order to mount something of a recovery thanks to 34 from Michiel Vosloo, and useful partnerships with Avi Karia and Richard Bennison at the end. In reply Teddington received an early shock as Tushaar Karia took a wicket in his first over to leave Teddington 0-1. Then Michiel Vosloo followed up his superb bowling on Saturday with another great spell. He removed the next three Teddington batsmen in a hostile spell of 9-3-20-3, and but for a dropped catch could have had more wickets. At 17-4 Harrow sensed an upset was on the cards against premier league opposition. With Ajay Patdiwala chipping in with wickets Teddington looked to be staring at defeat at 72-6. But Duncan Wood (56 not out) and James Keightley (65 not out) batted superbly to put on a match winning 98 run partnership. It was more a case of Teddington having won the game than Harrow having lost it, as it was a chanceless partnership of the highest order that enabled Teddington to sneak home.

1s & 3s both win!

Harrow made it three wins out of their last four league games with a superb win at home to South Hampstead on Saturday. Only one point separated the two teams before this game so it was very much a must win game for both sides. On a damp green sticky wicket the Harrow batsmen applied themselves to combat the conditions. An excellent 51 from Anant Brahmbhatt was the stand out innings, but all the batsmen chipped in with 20's and 30's to ensure that Harrow were able to post a seriously competitive 247-9 off 55 over’s. After a couple of rain showers it meant that South Hampstead were left with 38 over’s to bat and a winning draw target of 171. However Harrow took better advantage of the green conditions and a fine opening spell from Michael Vosloo reduced South Hampstead to 24-3. Then Tushaar Karia (4-44) bowled an excellent spell of left arm spin to reduce South Hampstead to 81-6. With Darren Crook also chipping in with 3-28, it left a very tense final 5 over’s as South Hampstead stuttered to 136-8. Micheal Vosloo (3-49) then returned to take a stunning caught and bowled to finish the innings with 3.3 over’s to spare. The win moves Harrow up to 7th in the table.

Hilan Shah destroyed South Hampstead 2s as he picked up 7 for 38 in 17 over’s as they finished 144 all out in 48 over’s. Harrow made a promising start and looked well placed on 29 for 0 when the rains came and the match was abandoned.


Harrow 3s got back to winning ways with another quality performance away at North London. Batting first North London made a poor start as they lost their 6th wicket with the score on 48. Then the tail wagged as they managed to reach 189 for 10 in the 54th over. Johnathan Raveendran was the pick of the bowlers taking 5 for 49 in 12.3 over’s. Harrow got off to a flyer in their reply with James Han (59) & Phillip Victor (92*) putting on 108 for the first wicket. Harrow reached their target without loosing another wicket in the 27th over. Harrow sit in 4th place on 79 points.

U13s reach County League Semi-Finals.

Harrow stormed to the next round of the county league championship with an easy win over Finchley at Payne’s Folly. Put into bat Harrow lost Sachin Patel for nought as they set off to build a target to bowl at. Shaillen Assani scored 24 with Fathe Singh laying the foundations with 63 not out. Jaymin Patel hit a quick fire 21 not out as Harrow settled for 120 for 2 from their 20 over’s. Finchley found Harrow’s bowling tough as they ripped through their batting order with Jaymin Patel taking 4 for 3 & Sachin Patel 4 for 9 as Finchley fell away ending on 42 all out.

2s in control!

Harrow returned to their bad old ways with a calamitous batting collapse away to Harrow Town on Saturday resulting in a heavy 80 run defeat. Despite Ajay Patdiwala bowling magnificently to take 5-59 off 15 over’s, Harrow somehow allowed Harrow Town to post a competitive 230 off 52 over’s. Poor fielding was the main culprit as the Harrow fielders dropped 4 catches and allowed Harrow Town off the hook. In reply Harrow looked well set at 50-0 in only the 10th over, but then proceeded to play a series of rash shots that reduced them to 109-8, despite some late tailend resistance it was too little too late and Harrow were left kicking themselves for losing a game that should have been well within reach.

Batting first Highgate 2s struggled to set a target as they battled to put runs on the board against a good all round bowling performance by Harrow. Clint Wolverson was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 52 with Hilan Shah & Steve Clarke both taking 2 wickets, Ed Bennison held 3 catches behind the stumps as Highgate could only manage 157 all out in 41.4 over’s. In reply Harrow made a promising start with Pritesh Vagela holding the innings together with a fine 66 before he was stumped. Highgate managed to build some pressure as wickets started to fall and with 6 down Harrow started to wobble. Hilan Shah with 13* & Ed Bennison 13* saw them home without further alarm with over’s to spare for ten points.

Brondesbury 3s asked Harrow to bat and then reaped the benefit as they bowled Harrow out for 152 in 31.2 over’s. Pieter Aucamp top scored with 65 & Phillip Victor chipped in with 25. Brondesbury got off to flyer reaching 50 without loss in 11 over’s. Phillip Victor then produced another outstanding bowling performance taking 6 for 54 as Harrow tried to claw their way back into the game. It wasn’t to be as Brondesbury reached their target with 6 wickets down in the 38th over to win by 4 wickets.

AP in control!

Harrow's Sunday 2nd Eleven bounced back from their league defeat last week by beating Stage in a friendly game at home. Winning the toss on a nice, hot, sunny day skipper AP had not hesitation in deciding to bat first. Harrow got off to a quick start but lost skipper AP for 17 in the first 5 overs. In came Vikash Seth at number 3 who made a delightful 85 and milked the bowling to all parts of the ground taking advantage of runs on offer. Both Ricardo and Zikko failed at numbers 4 and 5 with Zikko being bowled by a ball which pitched on a good length and shot along the ground. Out of form Kishan Patel then came in at number 6 to score a delightful 105 not out. Having played slowly initially whilst getting his eye in, Kishan then backed himself growing in confidence and hit the ball very firmly to score at no less then a run a ball. Harrow posted an impressive 271 from their forty overs with a few boundaries from Chris Summersell and Johnathan Raveendran towards the end of the innings. In the field Harrow restricted Stage to 220 for 8 with Akash Raval, Johnathan Raveendran and Vikash Seth all picking up two wickets each. In the field Harrow did well with the exception of a few embarassing misfields from the Captain. Ricardo however took a lovely catch off the bowling of Vikash Seth off a bowl which was skied miles in the air. Harrow put in a solid performance and hopefully this will continue throughout the rest of season.

Middlesex Cup

Harrow secured their place in the semi final of the Middlesex Cup with a fairly comfortable win at home to Uxbridge on Sunday. Uxbridge won the toss and decided to bat, but were never allowed to settle thanks to a fine spell from in form opening bowler Michael Vosloo (3-36) who dismissed the top three batsman. Thereafter the Harrow bowlers kept a tight lid on the scoring rate as spinners Avinash Karia (1-30) and Ajay Patdiwala (1-35) continued to restrict Uxbridge even into the slog over’s. Harrow lost a couple of early wickets but a fluent 51 from opener Dave Walker seemed to have settled the nerves until a couple of quick wickets fell to leave Harrow at 105-4. But middle order batsman Ajay Patdiwala (44) and captain Suk Bhupal (31) combined in a calm 75 run partnership to ward off any danger of an upset. Despite a couple of late wickets, Harrow ran out winners by slightly more comfort than the 3 wicket margin would suggest. A semi final berth now awaits against either Teddington or Richmond.

What a Debut

Anant Brahmbhatt produced a stunning debut for Harrow with 113* & 3 for 36 with 87 from Dave Walker as Harrow brushed aside top of the table Richmond to take all 10 points. Graeme Overy hit 123* as Harrow 2s  took 4 points from a wining draw against 2nd in the table Finchley. Our 3s hit a massive 317 away at Wembley but had to settle for a winning draw as well.

Cricket Coaching Camps

Harrow Cricket Club will be holding summer coaching camps on the following dates 2nd August to 6th August & 16th August to 20th August 2010.

Please call Ray Bennison on 07868 713059 or via e mail at harrowcricket@btconnect.com.

View from the boundary

Our junior section have just finished a another impressive season with our U10s finishing second & our 13s A & 13s B both winning their leagues. Our As will go on to play Finchley in the next stage of the play off competition.