GRA lost the toss and fielded first on what looked like and indeed proved to be a fantastic cricket wicket. I.O.W under 21′s made 233 for 9 in 40 overs which included an astonishing 51 extras. Although it was a decent total, GRA were still confident of the chase especially given our long batting line up and the short boundary on one side.

We got off to a good start with the openers making steady progress. After the fielding restrictions were lifted, we started to pick the scoring rate up a little but in turn started to lose wickets. It took another cameo from Lesbourne Edwards batting (31) at 7 to bring us back into the game before he was unfortunately run out.

The game came down to 10 runs needed off the final over with Aadam Rashid and Aqeel Iqbal at the crease. After a single and a big six over deep mid wicket from Aadam, we needed 3 runs off the last ball where we unluckily managed 1 run to leave us 1 short of a tie.

It was a fantastic game for the players and neutrals who both thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and competition alike and we look forward to returning in 2012.

We thank all of the players, staff and parents connected with the GRA for making our first season a very enjoyable one

On a good wicket with great weather Bromley won the toss and stuck us in to bat first. We amass 284/5 from 45 overs. Once again we had a solid start from opening pair Tom Smith and Adrian St. John. After doing all the hard work of seeing off the new ball Tom inside edged one on to his stump. Sadiq Hassan came to the wicket but soon after St. John was caught behind for a solid 23. Raymond Parkinson then came to the crease to join Hassan and the two built a partnership of substance with Hassan making 73 before being bowled by S. Sridhur. With the foundation was  layed, the middle order came in and all made quick contributions while batting around Parkinson who made 61, cameos from Naipaul, Haylett and Cunningham GRA managed to get up to their total of 284. The pick of the Bromley bowlers were W. Hoque and S.Sridhur who both pick up 2 wickets apiece from their 9 overs.

With 284 on the board the GRA bowlers came out and went hard at the Bromley without much luck. Henri Peters and Les Edwards bowled quick and accurate with the new ball but only pick up the one wicket which went to Edwards, the second wicket partnership for Bromley then put on a massive 200+ stand with opener Miguel Barbosa and number 3 Michael  Lawrence both scoring 107. The game was in the balance for most of the time, but with good bowling from the GRA spinners St.John and Cunningham in the middle over back up by some good fielding saw Bromley run rate rised. Just when the Bromley batsmen were looking to make a charge Edwards came back into the attack and took the wicket of Lawrence. The run rate drop and with the new batsman at the crease the required rate kept climbing and Bromley batsmen struggled to keep up and in the end fell short by 25 runs and ended up on 259/2 from their 45 overs.

Adrian St.John

On the 17th April 2011 the GRA recorded our first victory against a strongEssex league side Harold Wood CC. Once again we were blessed with fantastic weather and the wicket was especially good for this time of year. We won the toss and chose to field first where Harold Wood made 256 for 9 off 45 overs. In reply we got off to a solid start with Tom Smith and Adrian St. John both digging in well. Sadiq Hasan came in at number 3 and injected a bit of impotence into the innings with a quick fire 34 before smashing one to mid off.

Tom Smith

Somewhere in the middle of the innings we managed to lose our way and almost in the blink of an eye the scoring rate crept up to the 8/9 runs per over mark. We were in a bit of a hole before the introduction of Lesbourne Edwards at number 7. He proceeded to smash the ball to all parts of the ground in a blistering 37 off 13 balls to win the game for the GRA with an over to spare. What a game!

Sadiq Hasan

Our Captain Sadiq Hasan scored a brilliant 118 against the MCC Yc’s. The innings was full of enterprise and skill but it also showed a little of the talent that we possess at the GRA. Leading from the front, Sadiq showed a lot of maturity and class and it was a promising knock for the first game of the season.