Another Defeat for First Team

Without a single win all season Cambridgeshire 1 desperately needed a victory over Worcestershire 2 to claw back ground on the rest of the division. However both Cambs ladies singles players fell to injury playing a tournament the day before the match, so many thanks to Liz Salmon and Tracey Heyward for stepping up at very short notice.

Rob Pace lead the team out with a confident victory at first singles, gaining revenge for a defeat earlier in the season. Unfortunately county champion James Watkins was not able to avenge his earlier defeat, again beaten in 2 ends.

With the regular ladies singles players unavailable Natalie Taylor and Liz Salmon bravely stepped up and put in two great performances, Taylor’s fitness just holding out to give victory in straight sets, and Salmon losing out but deserves credit for a very strong battling performance.

It was the level doubles that cost Cambs the away fixture and the same proved true in the return leg. All four Cambs pairings were scratch partnerships and perhaps it was no surprise that all eight games went to Worcs. Perhaps even more disappointing was the fact that only one of the eight games was decided in three sets, the rest not going the full distance.

With all the points already decided there was nothing left to play for in the mixed. Pace/Kate Balls fought hard but were beaten at first, Watkins/Salmon played a tight three end game and did very well to come away with a result, then James Wilson/Taylor after using the first end as a warm up came though to win the next two comfortably.

Result 11-4 and a poor performance against a beatable team. 11th hour injuries cannot be anticipated but with six out of seven pairings being scratch partnerships, and having not fielded the same team for any two matches this season it really is no surprise Cambs are in trouble. 

Second Team Unlucky Not to Take a Point

After their strong win against Bedfordshire in the previous match, Cambs 2 were after more points to secure their place in division 4B against Suffolk 2. However, two eleventh hour injuries thanks to the Cambs Open and the unavailability of a couple of other key players lead to yet anothed reshuffled team in this difficult season.

Will Hodgkinson and Rob Couch opened proceedings with the mens singles, but although Rob battled away in his usual tenacious style and took his younger opponent to 3 ends, both rubbers went to Suffolk. Amanda Godfrey and Sandra Ashcroft stepped up for the ladies and both put in strong perfomances and again took their opponents to 3 ends, although both rubbers again went to Suffolk.

With the score at 0-4 in Suffolk's favour, Rob Couch and Dan Bates battled away and eventually overpowered their opponents in 3 ends to take the first mens doubles. Scratch pair Sam Scharf and Will Hodgkinson combined well and clinched the second doubles in another tight 3 ender. Unfortunately both paris were unable to sustain this form and both lost the reversed games to 3.

The ladies got off to a bad start, as one of the few regular pairings on show Amanda Godfrey and Tracey Bichener lost in straight sets against Suffolk's first ladies pair and although Sandra Ashcroft and Sharon Chandler fought hard, they also lost, this time in 3. The reversed games were more in Cambs favour as Amanda and Tracey returned to form and won yet another close 3 ender, although Sharon and Sandra failed to trouble to scorers, losing yet again in 3.

This left the score 9-3 to Suffolk and Cambs needed to win all three mixed to salvage a point. Third pairing of Rob and Sandra started things off well with a straight forward 2 set win, but although Amanda and Sam at first and Sharon and Dan at second put in great efforts, both pairs ended up on the wrong end of close 3 enders leaving the final score 11-4 to Suffolk.

The score line perhaps flatters Suffolk slightly as twelve out the fifteen rubbers went to 3 sets and Cambs will move on to the next match scratching their heads wondering what might have been.

Cambridgeshire Senior Open Tournament Results 2009

Men's Singles

Nathan D'Cruz (Middlesex) beat Daryl Jacobs (Middlesex) 12-21, 21-18, 21-17

Woman's Singles

Gemma Whiting (Kent) beat Miriam Beales (Hertfordshire) 21-8, 21-19

Men's Doubles

Simon Archer (Worcestershire) & Victor Liew (Hertfordshire) beat Chris Roe (Warwickshire) & Chris Tonks (Warwickshire) 21-19, 21-18

Woman's Doubles

Julie Pike (Norfolk) & Katherine Cooper (Norfolk) beat Laura Cousins (Hertfordshire) & Natalie Gilders (Gloucestershire) 21-15, 21-10

Mixed Doubles

Daniel Plant (Essex) & Katherine Cooper (Norfolk) beat Jack Molyneux (Surrey) & Gemma Whiting (Kent) 21-14, 22-20

Ist Team Well Beaten

The first match after Christmas is always difficult, especially when you are playing a team far too strong for the division they are in and three key players are unavailable. However the team was delighted to welcome back Natalie Taylor and Richard Fryer, both making their first appearances of the season. 

While Cambs are fighting to avoid relegation, Norfolk have not dropped a single point all season and that record never looked in danger during the match.

Singles saw straight sets defeats for Rob Pace and Jaclyn Lai against exceptionally strong opponents. The second singles saw Richard Fryer extremely unlucky to lose out in a tight three set game, before Alison Bennett produced a fantastic singles display against strong opposition, winning in three sets and must surely now be considered for a permanent singles place.

Doubles saw a similar story with the Norfolk top mens and ladies pairs being too strong for Cambs. Pace/Fryer picked up a point with a good victory over the second pair, unfortunately Jon Carson/Peter Galloway were not able to match their victory. Taylor/Bennett were not able to trouble the Norfolk pairs, while Lai/Kate Balls were involved in a close game before being forced to concede through illness. 

The match was decided before the mixed and the illnesses/injuries meant not a single established pair was available to play. However the three scratch pairings produced some of their best performances but unfortunately were not quite able to secure any results. Bennett/Pace gave the Norfolk first pair a huge scare, just losing out by the tightest of margins. Lai/Galloway similarly pushed their opponents close, before fading slightly towards the end. It took Taylor/Fryer the first set to work out how to play together but then produced a fine display and were beaten in the closest game of the day. 

Another disappointing result that doesn’t quite reflect the closeness of some of the games. However it is the matches against other opponents that will decide whether Cambs can maintain their place in the division rather than this game.

Strong Win Puts IInd Team in Good Position

On Sunday 11th January Cambs 2 played Beds 2 in a bottom of the table crunch match with the team coming worse off likely to go down.

The Men's singles started even with James Watkins finally finding form in the 3rd end to bring his singles home, but Jason Lai struggled against his cold and opposition and finally succumbed. Liz Salmon put Camb's nose ahead with a straight ends win and Tracey Hayward fought well in three ends but was eventually beaten leaving the score line equal going into the doubles.

Both teams fought ferociously as 7/8 of the Doubles went to 3 ends. In the Mens' doubles Rob Couch and Daniel Bates beat the first pair, but lost narrowly to the second pair, whilst James Watkins and Neil Place won both rubbers. The Ladies were keen to keep up the good work, Liz Salmon and Tracey Hayward were a scratch pair for the match and lost to the first pair but eventually got their act together for a final decisive push against the Bedfordshire second pair. The established pair of Tracey Bichener and Amanda Godfrey won their first rubber against the second pair in a close two ends but were nip and tuck against the first pair all the way through the three ends and piped then at the post to put Cambs 8-4 ahead.

Liz Salmon and Neil Place won their mixed comfortably against the Bedford first pair, Rob Couch and Amanda Godfrey worked hard but sadly lost in the third end. Cambs were hopeful, and not disappointed in Daniel Bates and Tracey Hayward winning in two ends to bring a very useful 3 league points, keeping Cambs in with a chance of staying up this year.

Veterans Inter-county Championships 2008/09 Results

Over the weekend of the 10th/11th January, Cambridgeshire sent two teams to Loughborough University to compete in the Yehlex Veterans Inter-County Championships.

The over 40s captained by Nick Pratt were competing in division 2a, where there was only 5 teams, this meant an home and away type scenario, with each county playing each other on the Saturday, and the fixtures repeated on the Sunday.

The over 45s captained by John Pickering were competing in a single group of 7 teams, which meant a single fixture against each of the other teams.

Over 40s

Team : John Foo, Kevin Barron, Nick Pratt, Pete Coleman, Jackie Coleman, Olga Bryant, Sandra Ashcroft, Sharon Chandler

The Saturday started with a 10am match against Durham, who in previous years had been a tough opposition. They once again proved a tough with Jackie/Sandra losing in two straight ends. Kevin/Pete quickly levelled the scores after the men’s doubles. The match was then quickly wrapped up with mixed wins for Nick/Olga and John/Sharon.

The next fixture was a 12:10am match against hosts Leicestershire. This proved to be an easier match then expected with the same Cambridgeshire setup winning all four rubbers.

The 3rd fixture of the day was a 2:20pm match against Nottinghamshire II. With a slightly changed setup, with John pairing up with Pete in the men’s doubles, and Kevin pairing up with Sharon in the 2nd mixed pairing, this again proved to be an easy match, with Cambridgeshire winning by 4 rubbers to 0.

The final match of the day was against an unknown Northumberland team. With Cambridgeshire back to the original setup, we quickly took a 2 - 0 lead with both the ladies and men’s doubles winning. Unfortunately, the mixed proved far harder, with shock defeats for both the Cambs mixed pairing, leaving the match as a 2 - 2 draw.

After the Saturdays play the league tables stood at Cambridgeshire 7pts, Leicestershire 5pts, Northumberland 5pts, Durham 3pts, Nottinghamshire 0pts

The Sunday fixtures followed the same order and times, with the 1st match against Durham. This proved to be a little harder then the previous day, with many of the Cambridgeshire team feeling the after effects from the fluid replacement the previous night. Once again, the Durham ladies proved too strong from Cambs, but again the men’s doubles quickly levelled the score. With strong mixed pairing from Cambs, we were quietly confident of quickly wrapping the match up, but the going was a little harder but Cambs came out victors in both matches in the 3rd ends.

The next fixture was against joint 2nd place and hosts Leicestershire. Cambs made life hard for themselves with our ladies losing to a strong Leicestershire pair, and our men losing their only match of the competition in a close 3rd end. The mixed pairings came to the rescue, with victories for both pairs once again in the 3rd end. This match proved to be so close, it took 1hr 45minutes to complete, which delayed the tournament.

At this stage, Cambs were still feeling confident, although Leicestershire could still catch them in the league (Northumberland slipped up to Durham). The next match was against Nottinghamshire. This proved to be a confident booster for the Cambs ladies, with them winning a tight match 21-19 in the 3rd end. The men’s and mixed pairings quickly wrapped up the match giving Cambs a 4 - 0 win.

With the final match of the tournament against Northumberland, the pressure was off as Cambs had already won the league when Leicestershire drew with Northumberland the previous match. Both the ladies and men’s doubles completed the 'double' over the opposition, leaving the mixed pairings to seek revenge from the previous day. With no pressure on, both mixed pairing turned the tables on the opposition with Nick/Olga winning in the 3rd end, and John/Sharon easily winning in 2 ends.

Final Position : Champions

Click here for score sheets

Over 45s

Team : Geoff McCall, John Harvey, John Pickering, Martyn Clark, Angela Sharman, Carol Salmon, Chris Key, Di Baker

This was always going to be a tough league for the over 45s, and it proved so in the first match on Saturday against Derbyshire. The ladies doubles pairing of Chris/Angela found their opposition just too strong losing in two straight ends. The men’s doubles pairing of John H/John P managed to level the match in a close two ender. Unfortunately, the mixed doubles went in the way of Derbyshire with pairings of Di/Geoff losing in 3 ends and Carol/Martyn in two ends.

The 2nd match of the day was a slightly easier game against Shropshire. The level doubles went in the way of the opposition with the ladies losing in two straight ends, and a different men’s doubles pairing of Geoff/Martyn losing in three ends. The new mixed doubles pairings of John P/Carol and John H/Di saved the day, with both pairings winning their rubbers leaving the result as a 2 - 2 draw.

The 3rd and final match of the day was against the very strong Essex team. The team went back to the first match of the day with regards the pairings, but this proved to be futile, with all pairings losing their matches in two ends.

The 1st fixture Sunday morning was against a very strong Cumbria side. With Cambs having another restructure (probably caused by the same fluid replacement regime as the over 40s), the ladies doubles pairing of Angela/Di losing heavily in two ends, and men’s doubles pairing of John P/Geoff losing a very close match in three ends. Both mixed doubles went in the way of Cumbria with Martyn/Carol losing in two ends, and John H/Chris losing in three ends.

The 2nd fixture of the morning against Nottinghamshire proved to be just as difficult, with yet another re-organisation within the team, saw Angela/Christine pair up again, but lost in a close two ends. Martyn/Geoff paired up again but found the Nott’s pair too strong, going down in two ends. Once again, the mixed went in the way of the opposition, with John P/Carol and John H/Di both losing in two ends.

The final fixture of the day was against Lincolnshire, with a draw or better being required to avoid the bottom position in the table. Ladies pairing of Carol/Christine lost in three ends, but men’s doubles pairing of Geoff/John H levelled the match. The 1st mixed pairing of John/Angela went to Lincolnshire 21-19 in the 3rd end, but Martyn/Di quickly levelled the match.

Final Position : 6th

Click here for score sheets

Photographs will be uploaded later

Defeat for Ist Team

After three straight defeats Cambridgeshire 1 faced a bottom of the table clash against Worcestershire in a battle to stay in division 2. A host of illnesses, injuries and various unavailabilities saw several new partnerships being tested out for the first time and several players making their first team debut having been called up from the seconds.

The opening singles saw both Rob Pace and James Watkins being defeated in straight sets before Olga Bryant playing as steadily as always took her game comfortably. Junior Jaclyn Lai lost the second singles in straight sets.

The mens doubles saw Pace team up with James Wilson in an untested partnership which seemed to be paying off until several dubious decisions gifting the game to the home team. James Watkins and Neil Place stepped up from the second team and played extremely well to take one of their two games in a close 3 set match.

It was hoped that the ladies would level the scores for Cambs, however Bryant and Kate Balls in their first competitive match together were disappointingly beaten by the Worcs first pair, before claiming a victory over the seconds. The second ladies pair was another new partnership and Lai and Amanda Godfrey pushed both pairs extremely hard before just losing out in very close finishes in very tight games- extremely unlucky not to take a point.

Cambridge needed all three mixed to salvage a point but this never looked likely as yet another new pairing of Bryant/Place were beaten in straight sets at first mixed. With only pride left to play for Wilson/Godfrey were unable to reproduce their winning form from the previous week and were also beaten in straight sets at third. The longest and closest game of the day went to Pace/Balls who fought out an epic and bloody three set game (including some bizarre scoring from an umpire who hadn't quite grasped the new scoring system) finishing the match bandaged and blooded, and very unlucky not to come away with a result.

Overall a very disappointing result to finish the first half of the season. Despite having several key players missing this is a match Cambs really out to have taken points away from. Things will have to improve in the new year to have any chance of avoiding relegation.