St Clement's Strollers at Magadalen College Ground. 20 overs.
Sometimes - not too often, thankfully - but sometimes, you play a game that leaves you wondering what on earth just happened. This was one of those, a bit of a mismatch with a bunch of youngens bolstering a normally decent team and a no contest being the result. A tour-weary Bodley team arrived hoping for a gentle mid-week game under a pleasant sky on a lovely pitch, but couldn't match the accuracy, intent and sheer skill of the bolters in the Strollers ranks. There were excellent performances from Phil Burnett and James Shaw with the ball - the former being on a hat-trick at one point as normal service resumed after the openers had retired. In the field necks were craned as sixes rained down into the trees, but a Strollers total of 170-odd was not half bad given the state of play half-way through the innings. An early wicket and things would have been much more interesting, but them's the breaks. With bat in hand Bodley fared a little better, first ball going for four as Phil tonked them from the off. Wickets fell at regular intervals as Bodley tried to hit out against a selection box of bowling but nothing to make the eyes light up. With a close field and plentiful resources to call upon the total looked a tad beyond us this time, though a heartening rearguard from Ben Parish and Dave Shorten proved most entertaining as the three slips were made to look entirely unnecessary and boundaries built the score. With six needed off the last ball to get us to a century, we almost got there only to be caught near the ropes - probably a fitting end to a funny old game. Roll on our next fixture, and a return to winning ways! Credit to all who played and threw themselves around in the filed, bowled when pressed into service, and batted with keenness, calmness, and a smile. GJ.
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Note from the Ed.Generally always written late on the night of the game. Any accuracy or sparkling prose is purely accidental. Archives
September 2019
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