Aldworth CC at Aldworth, timed game.
On a chilly Sunday in September, the Bodley battle bus arrived in the picturesque village of Aldworth for our final game of the season, memories of getting walloped this time last year at the back of our minds. To our pleasant surprise, Aldworth put us into bat, playing a timed format, for two and a half hours or until we were all out. (We had an idea which one of those it might be). Matthew and David Shackleton went out to face the impressive opening bowling pair. One was a teenage left-armer who looked a lot like Sam Curran and bowled a good pace; the other who didn’t look anything like Sam Curran but kept our batsman alert with some short-pitched deliveries on a tricky surface. Our opening batsman did well, seeing out some good bowling before David was caught trying to dispatch a delivery that stuck in the pitch, with Matthew out shortly afterwards for 14. Phil was in next, and played out some tricky bowling before getting clean bowled. Arthur and Dom had a valuable partnership here, with Arthur biffing the ball to the boundary and Dom nudging and nurdling away at the other end. When Arthur was well-caught by the keeper for 27, the score was at 88-4 and things were looking okay on a tough pitch. Dom was then run out after a bit of a mix-up, entertaining the spectators and opposition, before Tim and Gareth fell to some excellent bowling (“just too quick” was Tim’s review). A couple of lovely fours from Gav helped us get up to three figures, before he top-edged one, out for 11. There was a second run-out – Andrew Milner the unlucky party here – and Dave Busby was trapped LBW by the returning opening bowler. 114 all out, not quite ideal but still a respectable total on a tricky pitch. We then got stuck into tea, with some superb lemon drizzle cake and a friendly dog in search of sausage rolls. Heartened by the news that England were still holding out at Old Trafford, we returned to the field refreshed, to try and defend our total against (we suspected) a good batting line up. Stuart and Phil opened the bowling, and made a strong start with a tight first few overs. Both took early wickets, Gav taking a good catch at gully from Stuart’s bowling. There was also a lovely wicket for Phil, the ball carving up the batsman and clipping one of the bails. At the other end, the opening bat was striking the ball well, dealing mostly in boundaries and causing our fielders to hunt for the ball in the nettles a fair bit. Some good fielding, in particular a one handed dive by Stuart and a hand-stinging stop by Dave Busby, helped keep these boundaries to a minimum. That said, the opposition opener wasn’t budging, reaching 50 with his team’s total on 54. That is, he wasn’t budging until a terrific catch by Phil off David Shackleton’s bowling. Thankfully, the wickets kept coming, as Bodley’s ‘spin twins’ (Andrew Milner and Arthur) got in on the act. Excellent glovework saw Matthew rewarded with two well-deserved stumpings. By this point, Aldworth were running out of wickets but were also nearing the target, as their number 9 hit a few big fours to cow corner. Gareth spun the dice, bringing the express pace of Phil back on for a final flurry, and he managed to take the last wicket, again clean bowled, with the opposition just 2 runs short of our total. A satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable match, achieved through a good team performance – stubborn batting, consistent bowling and tight fielding. Now the off season, as Bodley’s players recuperate/rest/forget how to play until next April. Final good bit of news is the fact that apparently we’ve managed a 50:50 win/loss ratio this season. Who’d have thought it? Here’s to next season! DH
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OUP CC at Jordan Hill. Forty overs.
In a brief gap in the exhilarating Ashes schedule, Bodley’s run of victories over one of our longest established opponents the OUP came to an abrupt and painful end on the 1st of September. Memories of Mike’s heroics in 2017 and then bowling and fielding like a proper team last year to defend a below par score were brushed aside in a game in which we simply didn’t score enough runs and then faced a team who seemed to find batting easy. Tea was taken with the team bowled out well before our allotted overs for 103 and during some fine cake we reminded ourselves of being in the same situation in 2018, all we had to do was bowl at our best, and as is often said we’re often a better bowling side than a batting one. OUP openers hit at from the start, and are soon well ahead of an admittedly not exactly daunting run-rate. Gav slows things down with a couple of wickets, a nice bowled and a sharp catch from James in the deep but pretty soon pass our meagre total. Not many positives to find from this but mention goes to Tim for a decent knock, fours and sixes forcing a close ring of fielders back into the deep, James’s continued run of good form with a tidy spell of bowling when the rest of us where delivering a fine buffet and Gav’s wickets. We’ll draw a veil over the rest, though it was nice to be playing at Jordan Hill again and the oppo, as ever, were sporting and friendly opponents, unfortunately just to bloody good. The team welcome Jack Perkin, tempted by Gareth after the recent Glam fixture, hopefully this performance hasn’t put him off too much. Due to the early finish a beer match was organised, a chance to get back some pride in a ten-over thrash with everyone getting an over. OUP win this as well but Bod do ok, with wickets being spread around, but let’s leave it there shall we. Last game of the season this Sunday, south to Aldworth and the wonderful pub. SA. |
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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