Middleton Stoney CC at Middleton Park, timed game. Scorecard - www.pitchero.com/clubs/bodleiancc/teams/255079/match-centre/0-5235712/scorecard Missed out on the Middleton Stoney game last year. Word was of good oppo, devilishly tricky spinner/lovingly worn pitch, lovely ground and a nice club house and tea. Covid meant missing out on a bar and bbq after. All these things were in place in the 2022 fixture, weather was good considering it’s been rubbish recently and the birds were singing in the trees. Bod, conscious of being weaker in the batting department while David is still living the high life in California, bowl first, the thinking being we’d be better chasing than setting a target. Shaw’s senior and junior open, both miserly. We have ten on the day so Middleton lend us a player, who turns out to be a decent fielder (mention of Warwickshire under 16s at some point) as well as the son of one of the opening batters, which lead to some gentle sledging. Elliot proves to be a ball magnet fielding at point, often putting his body on the line to stop balls hit hard off the bat. Dan and James keep the score down as does Phil when he replaces James and it’s Dan that gets the first wicket. Fielding at short mid-off meant I had a great view of this, a quick ball that just moved a bit off the pitch, an outside edge from the bat flying at speed into the grateful mitts of Andrew at slip, great cricket all round. Last over for James is a wicket maiden, much deserved after posting figures of 11 off 5. Your scribe takes over, and with a timed game in progress, the MS batters carry on playing balls on their merit. This leads to plenty of dot balls but occasional boundaries keep the score ticking over. A powerful South African comes into bat at the fall of the fourth wicket and the scoring picks up, a couple of sixes hit off Phil and I with plenty of fours means he reaches the 40s quickly but Gavin puts the breaks on, bowling well down the hill and tricking the bat into coming down the wicket only for Matthew to stump him. This slowed the scoring down again, Dave fielding like a demon with plenty of fancy footwork and the Gavin-Matthew partnership works again pretty quickly after with more smart work by Matthew leading to another stumping. Two new bats are in but canny play by one of them sees the score pick up again, Andrew had started well but got a bit of a tonking in his last over so Dan and Phil come back on to see us home. Some desperate hitting using the pace of the ball sees MS get to 183 off 43 overs, a long afternoon in the field, but some excellent bowling from all and some tight fielding mean that we’re left with a good target, if we bat well… Tea, usual selection of sandwiches, rolls, cake and a welcome cup of tea. Time to talk tactics, we don’t play many timed games so need a bit of a rethink. MS have batted till 4.30. We start at 5. Bat till 6 then have 20 overs. Phil and Dan open, Phil surviving a close but leg-sidish LBW appeal first ball from a tricky bowler bringing the ball into the stumps. Phil is soon bowled, Dan tries to open up but is well caught first ball. After that it’s a steady collapse of wickets, with only Matthew and our borrowed player breaking into double figures, neither of whom get into the 20’s. For the second time this year we’re in danger of setting a new lowest score but manage to get to 64 before losing the last wicket with the number 11 bowled through the gate first ball, the second golden and the third duck of the match. Seven wickets clean bowled suggest a team lacking in a bit of confidence with the bat, hopefully something we can rectify over the course of three games on tour this weekend coming. A post-match bbq and beers were enthusiastically indulged to round off a nice Summers afternoon (result notwithstanding), that included a Red Arrows skirting the ground in full formation, a highlight for many of us. Onwards and upwards, hopefully in some sort of formation! SA, GJ
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Note from the Ed.Generally written on the night of the match after a valedictory pint. Any sparkling prose or accuracy is entirely accidental. Archives
September 2022
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