SATURDAY XI v Easton & Martyr Worthy II's - 25th May 2019
A sporting miracle on a par with Leicester City winning the Premier league took place on Saturday, as Curdridge managed to get 11 players on the pitch on a bank holiday weekend that saw England in action at the Ageas, and Hampshire in the Cup Final at Lords.
Skipper had dug deep into his contacts, with several of the usual suspects unavailable.
Jay was attending a stamp collecting convention, Tav oiling up dancers at the Take That concert, and Lewis train spotting.
In came Tea Cake (Trevor to his friends), Richard Short, and Rob returned from his weekend chasing mermaids.
Easton Martyr were the visitors and Skipper started the day well winning the Toss and deciding that having a bat was the best option.
Skipper then realised that he was one batsman short to open the batting so he picked a man in form and Punter was asked to start up with Mark Emms.
A steady start in the face of some decent bowling was then disrupted when Mark was trapped in front bringing Dave to the crease.
A decent partnership then was formed with Dave finding the boundary at regular intervals, and Punter displaying his unique defence. This involved hitting the ball with his front foot going forwards at the same moment his back leg was going backwards.
Not something you will find in the batting text book but it was effective.
When the lads reached drinks we were only 1 down with 53 runs on the board.
Acceleration was then required and when Dave fell to a good catch behind square for 40 then skipper made his way to the middle.
Four balls later skipper returned having delivered the acceleration with a 4 through mid off, leaving the rest of the batting line up to finish the job.
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Alan had a quacker, Jack looked good before one went straight up, and Rob lost his stumps leaving the innings struggling at 119 for 5.
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At the other end of this batting carnage Punter was still at the crease, steadily accumulating whilst all were falling around him before eventually succumbing just short of carrying his bat, staying at the crease for 37 overs.
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Some big hits from Sam and Richard then delivered a few precious late runs and the innings closed at 139-9.
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Tea done, and Curdridge knew they needed early wickets to defend a below par total.
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Dave did his bit removing one with his first ball, before a steady partnership made good progress towards the target.
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A dropped catch in the covers proved expensive as Mr Pink hat made Curdridge pay by anchoring the visitors innings - the culprit will remain nameless (it was Jack!)
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Del then trapped the number 3 plumb in front, with Andy P setting a new personal best for time taken to make the decision.
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Spin twins were then called upon, Sammy and Rob to try and stop progress but with tired legs in the field it was proving a tough ask.
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Sammy got a couple of late breakthroughs, with a good catch from Rob in the deep but ultimately it was too little too late, and Easton reached their target with overs to spare.
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A bump in the road for the Machine who will look to get back to winning ways with a visit to St Cross next Saturday
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Man of the Match
An excellent knock from our very own Freddie Mercury lookalike - Mike Punt almost carrying his bat with a well made 35.
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Champagne Moment
This goes to the opposition skipper who walked, having nicked one behind that the Curdridge boys hadn’t heard.
Donut of the Day
Most things that Skipper did went wrong on Saturday so he will take the prize this week