April 11 vs Stansted Park, away

The first game of the 2010 season uncharacteristically gets under way at Stansted Park with the home side winning the toss and asking IBM to bat first.  A dire start sees 2 wickets down with the score on 8 before a moderate degree of stability returns with a stand of 33 between Paul Hawkins and John Lowe.  When John is out LBW with the score on 41, James White comes to the crease and puts together a valuable stand of 65 with Paul before Paul falls just 3 short of his 50.  James keeps the momentum going on the early-season pitch eventually scoring 37 before being the 6th wicket to fall, with the score having reached 115.  The next three wickets fall without any significant addition to the score before Mark Stonham and Navin Sharma add a useful stand of 26 for the last wicket to take IBM to 153.  After the tea break, the home side start their run chase almost as badly as IBM did, with the first wicket falling on 8. With their No. 3 batsman retiring, hurt, only 2 runs later, Stansted Park find themselves having to repair early damage. Repair it they do as the next two stands are 87 and 56 to take them within 5 runs of their target.  Despite the bowling being relatively frugal throughout, 153 is simply not enough to defend and, although another wicket falls, they get home comfortably with 10 balls to spare.

April 18 vs Broadhalfpenny Brigands, away

The annual trip to the self-styled “Cradle of Cricket” sees IBM winning the toss and electing to field first.  With a wicket somewhat harder than the usual early-season Brigands pudding, the expectation is that the it may be a bit more help to the bowlers than normal.  Pedestrian batting from the Brigands’ openers sees them accumulate 79 for the first wicket at less than a run a minute.  A moderate acceleration in the run rate sees the home side reach 162-4 in 39 overs - a modest score considering that so few wickets have fallen. With extras contributing 29 runs, it could have been appreciably less. 0-1 then 8-2 in IBM’s innings before Andy Foster and Ray Stanley steady the ship with 23 and 31 respectively.  IBM find it equally difficult to score freely and wickets fall a little too frequently.  78-3 becomes 88-6 and 119-7 becomes 127-9. With 4 overs left, No. 10 and 11 at the crease and 46 more runs needed for victory, Fred Stevens and Mark Stonham decide to drop anchor and hold out for the draw, finally reaching 136-9 at stumps.

April 25 vs DACD, away

Our second visit to DACD’s new ground at Rowland’s Castle sees the home side win the toss and put IBM in to bat first.  Struggling to build an opening stand so far this season, the first wicket tumbles on 11 with the second falling just 7 runs later.  Skipper Pete Croxson shows the way with 29 before being bowled with the score on 72-4.  Two wickets fall in quick succession before Rob Tate plays a measured, but effective, innings of 41 to put IBM back in the driving seat. 49 runs from Navin Sharma, Mark Cross and Taddy Williams at 9, 10 and 11 get IBM to a very respectable 184-9 at tea. Whereas IBM are failing to build opening stands, their opponents are, and 72 runs are on the board before Pete Croxson bags the first wicket.  A second quickly follows at the half way stage and the second half of the innings sees DACD on or around the required run rate all the way, but losing wickets at the same time - Mark Stonham and Taddy Williams picking up 2 each.  With 5 overs left, 23 runs are required.  Six runs come off the next over, but for the loss of the 6th wicket.  Only 8 runs off the next two overs leaves 9 required off 2.  Five runs come from the penultimate over and a wicket falls on the first ball of the last over. Dot ball - 4 needed from 4 - but it only takes one ball and DACD claim a three-wicket victory in a thoroughly entertaining contest.

May 9 vs Westbourne, away

On a day best described as b***dy freezing and a wicket that resembles a bouncy castle, it shows all the signs of a low-scoring game. Westbourne win the toss and opt to field first.  IBM’s opening pair of John Lowe and Trevor Lee have a decent opening partnership of 27 before Trevor is caught out, bringing Ray Stanley to the crease, who plays the anchor role, scoring 25 first of all with John (22) and then Pete Croxson (32), before being third man out on 104.  Something of a middle order collapse sees the score plummet to 108-6 and it is left to Ragnar Forssman and Nick Ross to dig the innings out - which they do with applomb - Ragnar hitting 31 and Nick 42. A wag of the tail from Taddy Williams and Peter Hicks brings up a wholly unikely 214 all out. After tea, Peter Hicks and Mark Stonham open the bowling and the home side indicate that they are not there just to cave in and 49 is on the board before the first wicket falls... and the second. With Taddy Williams and Pete Croxson now bowling, a couple of missed catches are potentially costly, but 2 more wickets tumble cheaply before a decent stand builds to take Westbourne to 121 before the 5th wicket falls.  Runs are still being scored at just short of the required rate, building up for an exciting finale.  152-6 and 158-7 and with Westbourne’s number 5 scoring freely, the balance is tipped by two tight overs from the skipper and Ragnar. Despite a great run chase, Westbourne finally end up on 184-7 - a great game, despite the un-cricket-like temperatures.  Low-scoring?!?

May 16 vs Droxford, away

Droxford is one of those grounds that epitomises English village cricket - at the end of a narrow lane, overlooking farmland, trees inside the boundary - complete with tyre swing - and woodworm in the seats in the changing room!  Droxford win the toss on another chilly day and elect to field first.  Openers Rob Tate and Trevor Lee get off to a flyer, scoring freely and put on 81 for the first wicket.  John Lowe is in, then out bringing the skipper to the wicket. A record-breaking third-wicket partnership of 168 then follows - Rob Tate scores a personal best of 167 and Pete Croxson adds 62 in a final total of 269-5. After a most pleasant tea, Droxford set to the task of avoiding defeat and start off with a 50 partnership of their own.  By the 14th over, the home side have reached 83-2, and when the third wicket goes down with the score on 108, the innings goes into free fall - 113-4, 117-5, 119-6 and 130-7, 8, 9 and 10! Pete Croxson rounds off a good day with 3-31 while Fred Stevens in signature wooly hat, Nick Ross and Mark Cross pick up two wickets apiece - Mark having the remarkable figures of 3 overs, 3 maidens, 2 wickets for 0 runs.

May 23 vs Ship Shop Cavaliers at New Place

A first fixture against Ship Shop Cavaliers, home of ex-IBM stalwart Mick Wainwright, takes place in much more cricket-friendly weather. The visitors win the toss and elect to bowl first, their bowling attack being blunted immediately with their opener finding a rabbit hole and turning his ankle after his first over.  Rob Tate and Trevor Lee get the innings off to a decent start, Rob being first man out with the score on 31. Trevor is the next to fall for 33 after 12 overs and thereafter the innings splutters along with most batsmen getting in and then getting out. A below-par total of 139 is reached before the last wicket falls in the 34th over. Always a difficult total to defend at New Place on a quick outfield, runs accumulate quickly, but good bowling especially from Melvin Mathew and Taddy Williams with 2 wickets apiece keep IBM in with a shout.  Ultimately though, the total is probably 40 runs short and the visitors win the match in style with a 6, having lost 6 wickets in the process.

May 30 vs Clanfield, away

Whilst we’ve played Clanfield for a number of years now this is our first visit to South Lane Meadow.  Clanfield win the toss and put IBM in to bat on an “interesting” wicket.  The ball does something different every ball for the first few overs, keeping the bowlers very interested, and sees IBM collapse to 21-5. Slowly, but surely, the wicket flattens out and the batsmen’s scores start to increase. An excellent 41 from Mark Stonham; a No.9 record of 65* from Rob Tate and 33 from Nick Ross give the IBM innings a very tail-heavy look as they reach an unlikely 185-9 at tea.  Unfortunately Clanfield, who only started the game with 9 players, lose one of their 9 with an injury whilst bowling, so are up against a challenge from ball 1. They are largely architects of their own downfall though as wild shots see two wickets go down on 10 and a third wicket follow on 22 before a sensible 4th wicket partnership sees them reach 72-4, scoring quickly enough to be in with a shout.  However a cascade of wickets sees only 3 more runs added before the last man standing is dismissed, and all of this in a mere 15 overs.  Ragnar Forssman’s 3-19 and 2 wickets each from Michael Wells and Rob Tate do the damage. 

June 6 vs Curdridge at New Place

Skipper-for-the-day John Lowe wins the toss and puts Curdridge in to bat.  Taddy Williams and Melvin Mathew open the bowling and after two overs the scoreboard is graced with a “1” under wickets and a whole load of zeros everywhere else. Good pressure is kept up by the openers, supported by Rob Tate, who bowled 34 consecutive balls without a run coming from the bat, and a very sound spell from Mark Stonham. After 30 overs the score is 100-5, but Curdridge’s batsman have long been known for their ability to score runs right down the order, and some quick-fire runs see the visitors reach 170-9 at the break - Navin Sharma takes 2-29, Mark Stonham 2-31 and Melvin Mathew 2-33 in the process. IBM’s first wicket in reply falls on 6 before good stands between Rob Foster and Nick Ross (on his way to 71) and then Nick and John Lowe see IBM on 98-3 with 13 overs left and in with a real shout of a win.  John goes for 11, followed shortly by Nick and then no-one seems to be able to put together a winning stand. In the end, IBM hold on for the draw with the score just 10 short of Curdridge, but crucially, with 9 wickets down.  An excellent game of cricket against opponents who have become firm favourites to play against over the last few years.

June 13 vs Hammond’s Wallys at New Place

A new fixture for IBM, although a lot of teams that we play also play the Wallys.  Unreasonably, they take advantage of our hospitality and win the toss and put IBM in to bat first. 9 on the board and Paul Hawkins’ batting is done for the day.  Numbers 3, 4 and 5 only add 15 runs between them, with opener Mark Stonham holding the innings together with a hard-earned 25. Mark exits stage left and Fred Stevens enters scoring a highly-creditable 36 against tight bowling.  Only a late flurry by Rob Tate (54 - 46 of them in boundaries ) gives the score a hint of decency as IBM are dismissed for 186 in the 40th over. The visitors get off to a very shaky start as well with Ragnar Forssman and Mark Stonham bowling tight spells, the latter contributing 2-21, bringing the Wallys down to 26-3 in the 10th over.  A really solid stand of 63 for the 4th wicket followed by an even better stand of 83 for the 5th forces IBM on to the back foot with successive bowlers failing to make any impact. No further wickets fall and the visitors win by 5 wickets, continuing this season’s mixed fortunes.

June 20 vs Shedfield, away

This fixture has been dominated by home advantage over the years - even though the pitches are no more than 200 yards apart, their characters differ wildly.  Shedfield bat first and get off to a steady start, accumulating runs with IBM’s openers, Melvin Mathew and Taddy Williams, unable to break through. A double bowling change then follows which changes the shape of the match completely. Tim Street, down from London for the day (good to see him play again), with 2-22, and Mark Stonham, with a devastating spell of 5-30 off 8 overs, see Shedfield collapse from 50-0 to 100 all out in one ball over 29 overs. After the intyerval Navin Sharma and Mark Cross see the score to 22 before Nav is adjudged LBW, bringing Nick Ross to the crease. Mark keeps scoring steadily before being 2nd down for 23 with the score on 57. Nick follows him to the pavilion a few runs later, having top-scored with 35, and Ray Stanley and Bhanukumar Gangaraju break the back of the run-chase before falling at 85 and 88 respectively. Rob Tate and skipper John Lowe see IBM home for a deserved 5-wicket victory, breaking the sequence of home wins at last!

June 27 vs Hythe & Dibden, away

Match cancelled due to World Cup football match clash.

July 4 vs East Meon, away

In true East Meon tradition, working out what happened in their innings from the scorebook is like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces turned face down. East Meon used to be one of IBM’s weaker opponents, but in the last few years they have improved out of all recognition - not the team to have an off-day against. Unfortunately an early back injury to skipper Pete Croxson, a truly dreadful performance in the field and bowling that was, at best, well below par, allows East Meon to score somewhere in the vicinity of 294-4 in the 44 overs before tea.  IBM get off to a fair start with Rob Foster scoring freely, ably supported by John Lowe, bringing up a 57-run first wicket partnership. It’s 59-2 as “20 overs” is called and the  IBM objective is clearly to bat out for the draw.  With a wicket that is playing a few tricks and some fairly inept batting, wickets fall at 68, 75, 81 and 81 again, with 10 overs remaining. A rearguard action from Nick Wells and Mark Stonham, then Nick and Navin Sharma sees IBM down to the last 23 balls, at which point the score is 122-8.  Unfortunately, successive ducks for Mark Cross and Pete Croxson, to add to the earlier ducks of Ray Stanley and Trevor Lee, brings the game to its conclusion with 9 balls to spare. A sound thrashing, largely of their own making, goes into the record books as one of the heaviest defeats the IBM friendly side has ever suffered.

July 11 vs Wickham at New Place

Wickham matches over the years have been characterised by close results, with sometimes unpredictable outcomes - no less than three encounters have ended in ties! Skipper Rob Tate wins the toss and elects to bowl first. Melvin Mathew bags the first with the score on 17 and first-change bowler Taddy Williams adds a second with his very first ball to leave the visitors on 33-2 after 10 overs. The bowlers are rotated frequently on a scorcher of a day and it isn’t until the 19th over that Fred Stevens takes the next wicket with the score on 62. A good 4th wicket stand of 44 follows before something of a middle order collapse sees the visitors wavering at 122-7 in the 30th over thanks to a cracking spell of 3-26 by Nick Ross. The last ten overs sees a remarkable unbeaten 8th wicket partnership of 78 bring up a total of exactly 200 at the end of the 40 overs. IBM get off to a pretty ropey start with the score on 5-2 after only 4 overs. Asif Raza and Tom Shepherd put on a stand of 37 for the 3rd wicket before a middle-order “deck of cards” collapse sees the score on 72-8 after 21 overs. Remarkable things start to happen as Mark Cross (39) and Melvin Mathew (63) produce a record 9th wicket stand of 101 before Mark is bowled with 5 overs left and 28 runs needed for victory. With the game still very much in the balance, Taddy Williams comes to the crease but, unfortunately just 7 more runs are added before Melvin is caught. IBM lose by 20 runs, but in a typically entertaining Wickham encounter.

July 18 vs Hampshire Bowman at New Place

Our first Sunday encounter against the Bowman aka “The Smiths” sees skipper Pete Croxson win the toss and put the visitors in.  Mark Stonham draws first blood with his fifth ball and the score on 6, while Rob Tate adds the second with the last ball of the third over - 9-2.  Scoring at 4 an over, the pub side are not hanging around - unfortunately for them, neither are their batsman - 24-3 in the 6th over, 42-4 soon after, followed by a procession of single-digit stands: 50-5; 59-6; 64-7; 68-8; 72-9. Mirroring the previous week, it is left to the lower order to provide the largest stand - numbers 9 and 11 adding 26 before Nick Ross bags his obligatory 3rd wicket (for just 13 runs this week), to leave IBM the modest total of 99 to win, the innings having lasted just 24 overs.  Easy task then - 99 runs on a New Place outfield that is pretty rapid! Well... with Trevor Lee, Ray Stanley and Pete Croxson all back in the pavilion and the total only on 9, it looks like it might be more difficult than first assumed. Still, Rob Tate and John Lowe at the wicket is always good for a few.  Unfortunately, too few - just 14 to be precise - and with debut boy Joseph Lee just adding 1 run, IBM are reeling at 24-5.  John builds a small but important stand of 14 with Mark Cross before being trapped LBW with the score on 38. Two more wickets fall on 47, and the 9th goes down on 53. Mark Cross and Nick Ross now have the task of scoring almost half the required runs without either of them getting out on a wicket that is starting to get interesting.  However, with good use of his feet and a healthy disdain for the bowling, Nick rattles up a quickfire 41 with five 4s and three 6s, seeing IBM home in the 22nd over.  A narrow win in an unusually low-scoring game for New Place.

July 25 vs Rogate, away

Sadly, Rogate have been really struggling to field teams this season.  Given the facilities, the location and the proximity of the pub, this is a great shame and it is to be hoped that the situation is only temporary. Skipper Pete Croxson wins the toss and elects to bat first against a depleted Rogate side - owing to drop-outs on the morning of the game, Rogate are reduced to 7 players, so IBM supplement the fielding side with 3 or 4 fielders at all times to give a semblance of a normal side. The home side got off to a decent start, claiming two wickets in the first 5 overs and a third in the 8th taking the score to 35-3.  Nick Wells (22) and Pete Croxson (14), put on 25 for the next wicket and Asif Raza, on his way to a top scoring 38, join in the fun to take the score to 99-5 in the 24th over.  Cameo innings from Ray Stanley and Rob Tate push the score on before IBM are dismissed for 159 in the 39th over.  With a 7-man batting line-up, this is always going to be a tough target for Rogate. All goes reasonably well until the last ball of the 5th over when Mark Stonham uproots the stumps to claim the first wicket.  The next 15 balls see the game over as a contest as Taddy Williams strikes 3 times (on his way to 3-14) and Mark takes a second wicket to return figures of 2-8. After another 4 overs and with the score on 37, the last batsmen go for an unnecessary, suicidal run with the inevitable result, gifting IBM a 122 run victory in just 13 overs. We sincerely hope that the Rogate woes are sorted in the near future - as one of IBM’s longest-standing fixtures, it would be a great shame to see it fall by the wayside.

August 1 vs Andover II at New Place

Winning the toss, Andover elect to bat first and start to put the IBM bowling under pressure scoring 44 in the first 5 overs, and 75 in 10. Nick Ross finally grabs the first wicket with the score on 115 in the 17th over - the outgoing batsman having scored 81 of them. No early collapse though, as the number 3 bat contributes to a second wicket partnership of 55 before he too is out to a catch off Nick Ross’s bowling. The other opener swiftly follows, but by the time the fourth wicket falls, the total is already 220. With just a handful of overs left before tea, there is a collapse of sorts, the visitors finally reaching 238-7. The difference in scoring rate between Andover and IBM is evident all too soon as the first 5 overs yield only 13 runs, and the first 10 just 32 (for one wicket, Rob Tate being the man to have to return to the pavilion). A desperate procession of dismissals follows as 5 out of the next 7 batsmen dismissed fail to trouble the scorers and with 16 overs left to bat out for the draw, the score is 80-8. Opener John Lowe who has successfully hung around so far, holds on for another 6 overs before finally being bowled for 32 with the score on 94. This leaves Nick Ross and Navin Sharma to try and hold the Andover bowlers at bay for the best part of 11 overs. Against all the odds, they succeed in their quest and, no doubt to the annoyance of the visitors, hold on for an unlikely draw.

August 8 vs Bedhampton Mariners at New Place

Having lost the toss, IBM find themselves bowling first to a strong Bedhampton side. Taddy Williams’ first over maiden turns out to be the only one of the innings and despite Melvin Mathew claiming the first wicket in the second over with only one run on the board, the majority of the innings is largely one-way traffic.  50 comes up in the 11th over - still with only one wicket down - while the 100 comes up (3 down) in the 18th over. The next 3 overs are not lacking in entertainment value as one wicket falls in each, but the score also reaches 150 - Pete Croxson’s final over of 4, 6, 6, 6, W, 0 is particularly spectacular. The carnage continues with 200 coming up in the 25th over before a slight slowing of pace “restricts” Bedhampton to a mere 97 in the remaining overs.  Only by dint of losing more wickets (all 10), did this fail to achieve the record total scored against IBM in a Sunday friendly (East Meon’s 297-6 in 2007 still holds that record). If truth be told, below par bowling and dismal fielding is largely to blame, Mark Stonham’s 3-68 being the best bowling figures.  If the  fielding was poor, then the batting turns out to be pretty hopeless. Only four batsmen reach double figures - Rob Foster top-scoring with 26 as IBM slowly capitulate.  11-1, 48-2 and 3, 73-4, 77-5, 78-6, 87-7, 91-8, 101-9 and finally all out on Nelson. All-in-all a pretty bad day on the cricket pitch, as you might expect with a 186 run defeat.

August 15 vs Hawkley at New Place

This is our second fixture against Hawkley - the previous season’s encounter being a good close match at Hawkley.  The visitors win the toss and elect to bat first on a hot afternoon.  Mark Stonham and Pete Croxson open the bowling and soon have the visitors in trouble at 28-3.  A minor recovery to 66-4 follows (all of this happening in the first ten overs!) before a second collapse sees them slump to 81-7. Remarkably, this appears to be the catalyst for a boundary-fest with the ball sailing to (and over) the white line on a regular basis. A 50 partnership follows for the 8th wicket (it’s amazing how many high partnerships have been scored by the lower-order this season - both for and against), and further creditable 9th and 10th wicket stands takes Hawkley to 187 all out - in just under 27 overs!  A fine spell of 4-30 by Pete Croxson, and excellent catching all round - no less than 8 being taken - contributes to the opposition’s demise.  After tea, the two Nicks - Ross and Wells - open the batting. While Mr. Wells struggles with the mixed pace of the pitch, Nick Ross harvests the strike to take himself to a well-deserved 79.  When Nick W. is out with the score on 85, Trevor Lee comes to the crease and also struggles to pick the pace of the pitch - must be a problem with the over 50s!  Nick R. finally falls with the score on 114, leaving Navin Sharma (31) to manage IBM towards the victory total, despite further low scores from the other batsmen. In the end, the winning runs come from Fred Stevens with 3 overs and 4 wickets to spare.  Another excellent game played in true Sunday spirit.

August 22 vs West Meon, away

Persistent rain on Saturday, being topped up with showers on the Sunday morning led to the decision being taken, at the ground, that it would be imprudent to play due to the risk of injury.

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