Ealing North
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Steve Pound MP Ealing North |
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August 2005 - Gazette Article In my cricketing heyday I captained Middlesex for a few years with more competence than excellence. I should, at this point, explain that it was of course the Middlesex Hospital Sports and Social Club XI and not the county of that name – just in case anyone was confused! Later I turned out a few times for Hanwell CC 2nds in the golden age of Swanny, ”Jolly” Rogers, ”Marble Archie”, Chris Ware and the evergreen slim spirit behind the stumps: Ray Quick. Being complete rubbish I was encouraged to leave in the 1982 transfer window and spent a few years happily making a spectacle of myself for the mighty Ealing Commoners XI. Thinking my cricketing days behind me I had stored the old bag in the attic (no Sid James jokes here, please!) but then came the challenge from Perivale Phoenicians. As part of their Cricket Week this month they were challenging a number of unorthodox teams to 20/20 fixtures and they come no more unorthodox than Ealing North Labour Party. I accepted the challenge before realising that I hadn’t got a team but, in true New Labour fashion, I announced the initiative and assumed that the rest would follow. Amazingly it did and a sweet August evening saw the political cream of Ealing North gather on Drayton Playing Field to do battle with the horribly professional Perivale firm. The enemy batted first and ran up a decent score of 150 or so. This was despite some superb probing medium-pace from Cllr.Ray Wall (Hobbayne) and several testing overs from Tariq Mahmood (North Greenford).Mo Kauser (Hobbayne) may have terrified the slips more than the batsmen but he set them up for the cunning – possibly duplicitous – slow teasers from Cllr.Julian Bell (somewhere in Acton).Shoaib Siddiqui and Shariq Mahmood (N.Greenford) bowled with great skill and little luck and the least said about an eccentric over from your correspondent the better. An inspired piece of captaincy saw Mo take the ‘keepers pads from Cllr.Chris Payne (South Hobbayne) and the wickets began to tumble as Chris wove his magic. Facing an ask of over seven an over called for desperate measures and Cllr.Jill Stokoe was up to open but couldn’t be dragged out of the bar. To the amazement of all we started to paste ‘em round the ground with Ray Wall, Julian Bell, Tariq Mahmood and the increasingly arrogant Chris Payne doing some real damage. Cllr.Bassam Mahfouz claimed never to have picked a bat up before but belied that claim with a memorable cameo while Shoaib Siddiqui and Ammar Mahmood threatened the traffic on the Ruislip Road with their cultured belligerence. Peter and Jack Shaw (Perivale) piled on the pressure but wickets were falling to the vicious speed of Steve Maloney and Richard Taper who hurled down bouncers and beamers with a field of seven slips, cover point and a silly mid-on. Having only experienced reverse swing before when leaving the “Viaduct” I fell victim to the blistering pace of Richard Langan.Outrageous sledging from Daniel Langan behind the timbers may have contributed to our falling five runs short of the total, but incompetence could also have been a factor. Yet it was fun; and all credit to Perivale Phoenicians and to Trevor Preston for organising the week. Ealing North Labour Party have now got the bug and are looking for more fixtures. Potential opponents can contact us in the usual licensed premises. Teams from primary schools or sheltered housing schemes are particularly welcome. visit Perivale Phoenicians online |
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| Disclaimer | Copyright | Designed by Bassam Mahfouz. Promoted by Julian Bell, The Labour Party, Ruskin Hall, 16 Church Road, W3 8PP on behalf of Steve Pound MP |
