Whippersnappers at the Home of Cricket, Great Tew, Oxfordshire. Four innings of 20 overs, just like a test match.
What a glorious end to this strange and truncated season. Weather looked like it had decided summer was now at an end early morning but by play the Sun was out, the wind had dropped and the sky was a beautiful blue. Whippersnappers are usually squeezed in sometime in September after work, games often played out in near darkness before beers and curry. Not this season. The luxury of a whole Sunday afternoon and another game at Great Tew meant we could take our time and play two T20 innings, guaranteeing everyone has at least one go to shine. The bare facts are these. The teams split nicely between a Florence Park 10 v the World, with Flo Park relying on non-Bods and quite a few Shaw’s to make a team with James and myself. We welcomed new players James Riley, James’s daughter Ella, Roy McMillan (who will be familiar from our Thorncombe matches) and Jeff Bowersox. Ella and Jeff have never played before, Jeff comes from a baseball background and everyone is keen to see if there are transferable skills. Bod occasionals Dips, Dave Shorten, Max Baldock and Bodley regular Tim make up the Florence Park X. For the World we welcomed back Dom and Leigh. The match starts with a bang, the highlight of the four innings, if not the highlight of the season/entire history of Bodleian cricket as Phil is bowled by Ella’s first ball ever, which according to Phil moved a fair bit. Ella is surrounded by congratulations and amazed hugs from father and brother. Dave Busby scores a quick-fire 13 and Leigh, Arthur and David Shackleton all get into double figures but good tight bowling from Flo Park restrict the World to a low score of 103. Apart from Ella special mention to Max and Dave Shorten (too many Dave's in this report!) for keeping things tight but Roy is the pick of the bunch, 2 overs, 2 maidens, 2 wickets. Opening with a Shaw double bill doesn't quite work as both James and Dan are out early but Dave Shorten and Roy steady a ship that looks a bit short on runs for a while, then Jeff entertains with some baseball hitting, including a 6 off David Shackleton before Max and Dips both score big to leave Flo Park on 133, 30 runs ahead. A break for tea, and a chance to mingle with a, for us, big crowd. Various partners, parents and friends have come for the last hurrah of the season, and we should here pay particular thanks to Sheila Alcock, a regular on the boundary for a number of years who turns up regardless of current form. At one point during the third innings there's even a very brief appearance of Andy Downey, down from Lancashire who popped in on his way to catch the sunset at the Rollrights. So to the second lot of T20s, with the scores carrying on. The World, needing runs, reverse their batting order and the established opening pair of Matthew and David stride out. David soon retires on 33 after paying Jeff back with a 6 of his own. Matthew is clean bowled on a useful 28, Arthur gets a quick-fire 13 and James Riley gets a welcome 15 after being stumped without scoring first-time round (thus proving the worth of this format, see, everyone gets another go). Strong bowling again for Flo Park, Roy with another set of amazing figures (2 overs, 3 runs), Dips gets to turn his arm and Ella continues where she left off. Finishing with figures of 5 overs, 2 wickets for 31 runs in your first game is something to be proud of, and it would be cruel here to mention that's better figures than her brother, so I won't. The World finish on 121, giving a combined score of 224, Florence Park need 92 to win. Another Shaw opening partnership, this time James and Ella. James retires after getting past 30, Tim has a typical and entertaining Tim-like innings; a couple of hard-hit 4s, some risky running and nearly getting out twice off the same delivery, first with a juggled drop by Leigh then nearly running himself out after going too far down the wicket. The winning total is reached thanks to a quick 10 by Dan and a quicker 20 by your author, who hopes the arrogant reverse sweep for 4 off his first ball is forgotten with being clean bowled by World skipper Gareth soon after (sorry Dave). Thanks to Gavin for umpiring throughout the afternoon. Thanks to the early start there's enough time to have a few beers after in the warmth of a late September evening. Despite everything it has been a very enjoyable season. We've played 6 and won 3 of them, and more importantly have avoided those games against frustrating opposition that usually end in defeat and questions as to whether we should play them next season, maybe there's a lesson there for us. Anyway, role on next season, in whatever form it takes, and thanks to all for making 2020 a success. SA.
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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 2020
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