Angry of Riddlesden

I had to delay the writing of this week's report as I was too annoyed yesterday. It seems strange, but I was annoyed by the way Saturday's game went. I thought about this trying to work out what right I had to be annoyed - I'm not a player, I don't know what it was like out in the middle, I don't have the right to criticise from the sidelines. But I've realised I do. As a fan. All sport fans criticise and are disappointed by their team from time to time - sometimes unjustly, sometimes not. Not for the sake of it, but because they want the team to do better, to win, or at least perform to the best of their abilities.

And this week I feel my frustration is justified - not because we lost, but because of the manner of the defeat. There was a complacency running through the entire team. An arrogance that may have been acceptable if we were top of the table, but having not won a game all season, how did we have the nerve to be so cocky? The general feeling was that we'd score hundreds, then bowl Sandy Lane out for a paltry total. Even after the shambolic batting display, limping to 82 all out, nobody seemed concerned - we'd dismiss them for under fifty. Even as they homed in on the win with three wickets left, there was still a bizarre belief that there was no worry - one more wicket and they'd capitulate. Well it didn't happen and we're rock bottom, a long way adrift of avoiding relegation and without a win with half the season gone.

Of course there were excuses. The umpire was biased. The pitch was poor. And my favourite - the opposition bowlers were TOO rubbish! Well the umpire may have made the odd contentious decision (Akeel and McGarry can feel aggrieved batting, and Qadeer bowling). The pitch may have been a bit slow, The bowlers weren't very good - but too poor? In that case why don't we blindfold a couple of players, spin them around a bit and have them bowl - we should get the opposition out for less than ten! But overall, the reason we lost was a pitiful batting performance from a team that is perfectly capable of scoring a good total. Too right I'm annoyed

Ok, I suppose I should describe what actually happened. We won the toss and chose to bat. Dale, Steve and Shanny perished quickly to leave us on 10-3. Qadeer and Akeel put together a useful stand, thanks partly to two dropped catches, before Akeel in particular looking good until being harshly adjudged lbw. After that there wasn't much to enthuse about - Qadeer (25) and Akeel (23) being the only players to make double figures.

After the break, Mohammad Shahnawaz bowled superbly and aggressively to give us hope, taking 6-31 from his 12 over spell. Zain Naeem, captaining the side this week, also bowled well with 1-30 from 12 overs. The fielding was a bit tighter this week too, though there were still three or four dropped catches - on another day this would have been a great display in the field. But that poor total was just too low and Sandy Lane crawled over the line to win by two wickets.

So that's the half way stage of the season. No wins so far. One point. Sandy Lane are our target to overhaul if we're to stay in the division, and they're now 7 points ahead. So that's at least three wins to overtake them in the last eleven matches. Next up is a home game against Eldwick and Gilstead. Let's hope our season starts here.