Xiles CC WIN scoring 201 for 9
SCC all out for 188 off 38.3

SCC v Brighton Xiles CC on Sun 17 Jul 16

Captain’s Match Report written by Comrade Valdimir Boringski.

Having had the honour of captaining the comrades in the very exciting game with nail-biting finish last year at St James’s Montefiore, I was delighted to be asked to take up the post again this year.  Last year’s 40-40 match saw the Xiles all out for 160 runs in their 35^th over after a brilliant fielding and bowling effort by the comrades.  The communists edged to victory scoring 161 for 9 off 39.2 overs i.e. with only 4 balls to spare!  Comrade Boringski was out for only 5 and Comrade Lt. General Markov Cobramavitch scored a steely 22 runs in an epic innings lasting 16 hours and 42 minutes.  Comrade Brandonovski scored a solid 16, and Comrade Daglyev steered the communists to victory in a fine 57 not out innings, with the inebriated Comrade Hatter holding up the final wicket and even lofting a lofted off drive for 4 into the bargain.

This year the comrades met at the bottom of the escalator at King’s Cross St Pancras train station at 10.30am on Sunday morning, avoiding the capitalists as best they could, to catch the train down to Hassocks.  We welcomed 2 new comrades into our ranks – Harry Rose (aka Comrade Rosinski), nephew of Comrade Analitch, and Will Roberts (aka Comrade Robertski), friend of Comrade Rosinski.  In preparation for last year’s game I set about a week of strategic and tactical planning in conjunction with a juice only diet, cold showers, and even a brief trip to Red Square to attend a Marxist Rally.  This year sadly I did not have the opportunity, so I spent the train journey down planning tactics, batting, fielding and bowling positions.  On arrival at Hassocks train station the resourceful Comrade Dacha attempted to order some taxis to take us to our new location this year – Clayton Cricket Field on Underhill Lane, near Hobbiton, with artificial playing strip.  Sadly none of the taxi companies were able to pick up the comrades so the valiant Sewelski and Daglyev provided a shuttle service to the grounds.  We arrived late and prepared speedily to ready ourselves.  Comrade Boringski took the toss with opposition captain David Hannant.  We won the toss and I decided to put the communists into field first.  The SCC fielded extremely well, and although we did not see any early wickets, we managed to keep the run rate down to 4 per over for the first spell.  Comrade Dacha opened the bowling in an impressively socialist 5 over spell from the Bywater End, with the good Comrade Hodderov charging in from the Bree End.  Debutant Comrade Robertski and veteran Comrade Daglyev then took over for 5 overs each.  Comrade Daglyev took a fine 5 wickets during his spells today, and Comrade Robertski took 2 excellent wickets, including seeing off Comrade Hooperov lbw for 28 runs.  Comrade Hooperov batted well, but should have known better than to play for the Xiles capitalists; he is often seen among our ranks, but today was in the opposition team.  Next to bowl were Comrade Malkovitch and other debutant Comrade Rosinski.  Comrade Malkovitch had a good 4 over spell, but did not quite manage to get that elusive wicket.  Comrade Rosinski bowled 2 overs with some very colourful deliveries, almost Cobra-esque in style; this had the effect of unsettling the batsman and inducing Comrade Hooperov to run out his captain David Hannant in the confusion; perhaps Comrade Hooperov’s true roots were beginning to show as the shame of his political treason was weighing heavily on him.  Comrade Sewelski then bowled 2 overs from the Bree end in one of the best spells of bowling in his career, with sighs from the communists as his balls narrowly missed the oppo’s striking machine.  Our 4 strike bowlers then returned to finish off the remaining 12 overs, with 3 overs each.  Comrade Hodderov took the wicket of David Bailey in this last spell, who was perhaps focusing too much on his latest photographic assignment.  There were 3 outstanding catches taken in the field today; 2 by the debutant Comrade Rosinski at deep cow corner, and 1 by Comrade Dacha at deep mid off; a most pleasing sight for the captain.  Also thanks to the mighty Pete Brandon (aka Comrade Brandonovski) for returning to keep wicket after last year’s fine wicket keeping performance.   Mention as always to Comrade Analitch for his extremely energetic and enthusiastic fielding performance, Comrade Hodderov for fine fielding as ever including the Captain’s stop of the day, and Comrade Daglyev for razor sharp reactions.  The Xiles scored 201 runs in total for 9 wickets.

After tea the communists took up the batting challenge, with a run rate of just over 5 runs per over to win; victory was in sight, but they would have to work hard for it.  It was a field which did not yield runs easily; the outfield was slow and it often required lofted shots to reach the boundary.  Comrades Vlad Borinski and Analitch opened the batting with a fine partnership of 81 runs.  Comrade Boringski tallied up 40 runs before running himself out – risks were necessary if we were to hope for victory.  Comrade Analitch scored a lifetime best of 33 runs in a very fine performance with some glorious strokes of the bat.  The run rate started off slowly at 3.5 runs per over, but as we realised we needed to dig deep, we edged it up to 4 and then almost 5 an over so as not to leave too high a hill to climb for our comrades in reserve.  Dacha then came in to notch up a valiant 14 runs.  Comrade Daglyev ,the people’s hero, came in shortly after to score a very fine 66 runs, including a six which nearly came crashing into the scorer’s bench where the communists were huddled; and Comrade Malkovitch tallied a solid 15.  After this the communists struggled slightly with Comrades Hodderov, Sewelski and even the mighty Brandonovski being felled by the wiles of the opposition bowling.  Next debutant Comrade Rosinski came.  We needed 15 runs to win with 3 overs to spare, so the game could go either way in the last few overs – it looked like it would be another exciting finish on the cards!  However, the brave communists could not quite overcome the ingenuity of the capitalist offensive; Comrade Rosinski remained not out for 1 fine run, but Comrades Owenski and Robertski fell, leaving the comrades all out for 188 off 38.3 overs, just 14 runs short of victory.

After the game the comrades repaired to The Hassocks pub for some well-earned refreshment (photos attached), before catching the late train back to London.

In spite of our loss today, I was extremely pleased with our performance.  For the last 2 years of our fixture against the Brighton Xiles, we have managed to claw an uncanny win from the jaws of a loss.  This year we came very close, but didn’t quite manage it in the final analysis.  However, sportsmanship is the middle name of the SCC, and we must let our friends the Xiles win from time to time, even if they are decadent capitalists.  The SCC is the only team I know who can lose a game and yet still win.  All hail the mighty comrades.  You can all be well pleased with your performances today – your captain is very proud of you.  Semper sodales, fors et victores!