May 10 vs IBM Hursley, away

Finally, after over 30 years of league cricket, the two IBM sides get to meet in a League fixture. The home side win the toss and, as is usually the case, elect to field first.  The first wicket falls in the 3rd over, skipper Phil Stride being run out, and thus sets the pattern for the rest of the innings with low scores and small stands.  Only five players make it into double figures, Rob Tate top-scoring with 23 with most stands accumulating 16 runs or less.  The final score, after a hard slog of just under 40 overs is a mere 107. Openers Craig Ellis and Kev Gledstone pin Hursley down at the start of the innings, only 12 runs coming off the first 10 overs and two wickets falling in the process. Halfway through the overs and Hursley are still only on 41 for 3.  However, Hursley’s number 4 bat finally gets into his stride and while runs never come easy, steers the home side to victory by 4 wickets with just under 5 overs to spare.  Some very creditable bowling by IBM SHCC in keeping the runs down, pick of the bunch being Kev Gledstone with a return of 3-29, but a loss to start the campaign in County Division 4 (South).

May 17 vs Fair Oak II, away

Over to Lapstone Park for the second match of the season and winning the toss, Phil Stride asks Fair Oak to bat first. A wicket second ball gives IBM a good start and at 14-2 after 4 overs, the home side are in a spot of bother.  A good third wicket stand takes the score to 74 and the remainder of the innings follows a remarkably symmetrical pattern - similar stands in the teens and twenties, no flurry of wickets, no flurry of runs, the innings being wrapped up in the 42nd over with the total on 190. Craig Ellis returned 4-57 and Phil Stride 3-31 in a steady all-round bowling performance. A little over 4 an over needed and after 10 overs, IBM are lagging a little at 30 without loss.  With 20 overs gone but only one wicket down, despite the score only being 64, the balance is probably just in IBM’s favour. And then the wheels come off!  78-2 becomes 95-7 by the 30th over and it is too much for the remaining batsmen to manage, despite scores in the 20s from Phil Stride, Craig Ellis and Mel Rayer, no-one stays there long enough to put an innings together, and in the end IBM fall just over 50 runs short - just how many is anyone’s guess as the scorebook doesn’t add up in any meaningful way!

May 24 vs Locks Heath II at IBM Hursley

The first home match of the season, albeit the second to be played at IBM Hursley. Locks Heath win the toss and true to form, put IBM in to bat.  An inauspicious start as debutant Kunal Bhatia is bowled first ball of the innings.  Mel Rayer soon follows and it looks as if the middle-order collapse is happening a bit early!  Indeed the middle-order collapse becomes a highly unusual middle-order recovery with Simon Martin scoring 25 on debut; Pete Rowson adding 28 before getting run out and Andy White scoring a very useful 47.  With 27 runs added by number 10, Josh Jayes, and the extras contributing 40, IBM achieve a creditable 214 all out. Locks Heath start well, adding 34 for the first wicket in good time before the bowlers manage to tighten things up. The total is 107 before the third wicket falls, but a further 20 overs have been eaten up in the process.  A tidy spell of 4-58 by Mel Rayer and with 6 overs left, the visitors need 35 to win with 3 wickets left standing. In a flurry of wickets in Taddy Williams’ second over, it’s all over with the lower order being baffled by Taddy’s nagging accuracy.  From a possible close finish to victors in the space of just four balls.  In the end a comfortable victory by 31 runs.

May 31 vs Trojans II, away

Back on the road - the M27 to be precise over to the Eastleigh/Southampton DMZ for a first game at Trojans in quite a few years.  Trojans win the toss and ask IBM to bat first.  Five balls into the innings and it is 0-1.  Phil Stride and Ragnar Forssman come together to add 30 for the second wicket, but despite most people getting starts, no-one manages to go on to compile a score in the upper order. Craig Ellis contributes 30 in the middle, but the innings doesn’t gain any momentum until No. 8 Pete Rowson adds 51 to the total before falling last man out with the score on 150, but crucially with 5 overs unused.  Trojans get off to a more assured start with a 49 partnership first up.  Kev Gledstone, Mel Rayer and Andy White pick up two wickets apiece, but never look like they are going to prevent what turns out to be a 4 wicket victory with more than 7 overs to spare. If IBM could have batted on for the last 5 overs, the result may well have been different.

June 7 vs Fareham & Crofton II at IBM Hursley

In time-honoured fashion, IBM win the toss and elect to bowl first.  At 2-1, this looks like a good decision, although a 56 run second wicket partnership, albeit taking no less than 19 overs does put Fareham & Crofton in a better position. The innings stutters thereafter thanks to 4-35 from Mel Rayer and 3-35 from Kev Gledstone, the visitors being dismissed in the last over for 137. In theory this should be a chaseable target. At 5-2, things don’t look quite so good. Giving life to the old cricketing cliché, “one brings two”, IBM then proceed to lose two wickets on 13, two on 46 and two on 75. When Andy White, top-scoring with 30, is out with the score on 88, the game is pretty well up and despite dogged resistance over no less than 8 overs, the last pairing of Graham Stride and Kev Gledstone are unable to make any headway and Graham is finally out with the score on 97 - a 40 run defeat against a meagre total.

June 14 vs Gosport Borough II, away

Gosport win the toss at one of the less pleasant venues that IBM visit and unusually elect to bat first. With an opening stand of 89, it’s not difficult to see why. Finally, the stand is broken by Mel Rayer on his way to figures of 7-63, but the Gosport batsmen are always on top and despite no further big stands, the home side finish the 45 overs on 219-9. IBM are always on the look out for the unlikely collapse, and they turn up a good one for this match. Only Craig Ellis, batting at number 2, with 17 and Matthew Stride, batting at number 11, with 10 get into double figures as IBM capitulate for 69 - a 150 run defeat and the third worst defeat by runs the league side has ever suffered.

June 21 vs Portsmouth III at IBM Hursley

Portsmouth pulled out of the game at less than two hours’ notice, leaving a very disgruntled Saturday side who fancied that they could win this match.

June 28 vs Emsworth, away

IBM win the toss and elect to bat first on a pitch described by all as having green stuff on top of brown stuff. Electing to bat first, IBM’s opening pair put on 63 before skipper Stride (P), falls for 17.  Craig Ellis is well on his way to scoring 55 as the total creeps inexorably towards a decent total with a number of stands getting into the 20s and 30s. With 9 balls left, the last wicket falls, tantalisingly just two runs shy of 200. After a shaky start, Emsworth consolidate for a third wicket stand of 80, followed by a fourth wicket stand of 45, rather unsportingly not bothering with a middle-order collapse. And four wickets it remained, as Emsworth cruise home with 11 overs to spare.  The midpoint of the season has arrived and sees IBM sliding into the relegation zone.

July 5 vs Brockenhurst, away

With home matches at something of a premium, it’s a quick trip down through the New Forest to play a first ever fixture against Brockenhurst at err... Lymington.  Skipper Stride calls wrong and is invited to bat which he does - very briefly.  Rob Tate replaces him for the second ball of the innings before departing himself on 13. Craig Ellis, on his way to 22 and Tim Doran, playing only his second match since knee surgery, on his way to 34, put on 63 for the third wicket and then find themselves back in the hutch within 6 balls of one another. “One brings two” as wickets 4 and 5 fall for 76 and wickets 7 and 8 tumble on 105. A car-bending cameo by Kev Gledstone at the end of the innings lifts IBM to exactly 150, but once again are well short of making use of the overs.  An opening stand of 73 has the visitors on the back foot, but onebringstwo-itis seems to be affecting the opposition as well. Wickets 2 and 3 go down on 74, a modest recovery before wickets 7 and 8 go down on 119 and finally 9 and 10 fall on 127. A much needed victory with bowling figures of 4-28 from Andy White, 3-18 from Craig Ellis and 3-34 from Mel Rayer, while keeper Pete Rowson clasps three catches behind the stumps with various parts of his anatomy.

July 12 vs Paultons II at IBM Hursley

A grey day greets the players at Hursley as skipper Phil Stride wins the toss and elects to have a bowl. First blood comes in the third over as Andy White dismisses the opener with the score on 5.  Fourteen more overs pass before the second wicket falls, the score having crept on to 48.  72-3 becomes 128-4 at which point the Paultons innings largely collapses - the last seven wickets tumbling for only 27 runs thanks to two bowlers with a combined age of well over 100!  Mel Rayer picks up 4-27 and Kev Gledstone picks up 4-56 as the visitors are skittled for 155.  IBM start off badly after tea, losing Rob Tate with the score on 1 - the 5th time this season that the opening partnership has failed to reach 2! Phil Stride and Tim Doran fall cheaply and things are looking gloomy at 23-3.  Very gloomy.  In fact so gloomy and rainy that the players come in part way through the 13th over and never retake the field.  Match abandoned with IBM on 29-3.

July 19 vs Langley Manor II at IBM Hursley

Thanks to the rain of the previous week and a late downpour on Saturday morning, this fixture had to be called off.

July 26 vs Fawley II, away

Fawley win the toss and ask IBM to bat first at the old Esso sports ground. In an innings bolstered by no less than 34 extras, no one partnership exceeds 33 and but for a dogged knock of 56 by Pete Rowson, the final total could have been a lot worse. As it is, only Craig Ellis and Simon Martin join Pete in double figures and with over 10 overs left IBM are bowled out for 136 - or more accurately caught out, as no less than eight batsmen are dismissed in that manner.  The bowlers have very little leeway, but get stuck in early, taking wickets with the score on 14, 19 and 36. Fawley then succeed where IBM failed - by putting together two consecutive reasonable stands to take the total to 103-5. With a sixth wicket falling at 120, a slight hint of a possible win appears but the home batsmen stick it out to see their side home by 4 wickets.  IBM’s bowling was almost as generous as Fawley’s - gifting 28 extras to the cause. This match could well yield one of the highest percentage extras tallies of any game played by IBM, over 22% of the total runs having absolutely nothing to do with the bat!

August 2 vs Wellow & Plaitford at IBM Hursley

Rain scuttles another fixture at the rather sodden IBM Hursley ground.

August 9 vs Hambledon II, away

For the second week running, the weather is the winner - wall to wall rain ensures that not a single ball is bowled in the division, or probably the entire league, on the day.

August 16 vs Hursley Park III at IBM Hursley

For the second local derby of the season, IBM entertain visitors from over the road who promptly win the toss and put IBM in to bat. Rob Tate is caught with the score on 29 and Tim Doran follows in similar manner with the score on 43.  The wickets then come along like London buses and in the space of a few short overs IBM collapse to 53 for 6.  Things don’t get significantly better and if the contribution of Phil Stride (29), Andy White (25*) and third top scorer Extras (9) are taken out of the equation, then there isn’t a lot left out of the total of 91! With the IBM innings wrapped up in 30.4 overs Hursley Park have no need to rush to victory. Scoring at a shade over 3 an over, they lose just the one wicket (caught Gledstone, bowled Matthew Stride) en route to a comprehensive 9-wicket victory.  Relegation now looks a real possibility.

August 23 vs Bramshaw II, away

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Bramshaw get off to a cautious start - just 27 runs coming from the first 10 overs for the loss of one wicket. The 11th over goes for 16 though, setting the tone for the remainder of the innings. 50 comes up in the 14th over, 100 in the 20th and 150 in the 28th.  A couple of breakthroughs each by Kev Gledstone and Graham Stride put the breaks on a little, but the home side still cruise to 248-6 at tea. The assumption was that the batting would improve from the previous week.  That assumption proved to be desperately inaccurate as wickets fall in rapid succession. Only Phil Stride with 29 (again) and Rob Tate, with 10, get into double figures with Pete Rowson, Andy White and Tom Linley failing to trouble the scorers. The final total is 68 in less than 20 overs and a crushing 180 run defeat.

August 30 vs Hayling Island at IBM Hursley

Mathematically there is the slimmest possible chance of avoiding relegation by the slimmest possible margin at the start of the match. However! Winning the toss and electing to field first the writing is soon on the wall as both openers, one of them ex-IBM batsman Neil Blackey, cruise their way to half-centuries only to get out almost immediately having done so.  With numbers 4 and 5 both falling in the 40s, Hayling post a challenging target of 228 for victory. The only minor high-spot for IBM is an economical spell of 3-29 by veteran Mel Rayer. Showing no respect for his age, skipper Stride opens with Mel and the IBM innings soon falls into the same, sad pattern. Mel makes 22 and Andy White 15 as all IBM’s wickets fall bowled and a total of 74 is flattering as no less than 17 of those come in Extras.  A miserable end to a trying season and, subject to confirmation, relegation back to the regional divisions.

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