CURDRIDGE vs PORTSMOUTH III's - 13th August 2022
Blimey, it was hotter than the inside of a freshly grilled cheese toastie on Saturday - mmmmmm! Cheese toasties….
Back to matters cricket and Portsmouth were the visitors to the Costa del Curdridge,
Mike Hillier has been absent this week with his latest rash so a new deck had been prepared courtesy of skipper and his band of elves (quite big elves in the form of Messers Bollard and Cozens.)
Several changes from last weeks winning efforts with Gary (Tap dance exam), Dan Clark (Backstreet Boys tribute night), Craig (counting up his ailments), and Dom (chasing rainbows) all missing from the top order.
Back into the side came Del, Jack, Hilman and Rhys to bolster numbers.
It was clearly a bat first day, surely no-one wanted to bowl in that heat, so when Skipper lost the toss he was thinking about how he would break it to the lads, when surprisingly the Pompey skipper elected to bowl.
He must have seen something in the track that no-one else did, as 7 balls in and the first breakthrough was made with Jack deciding he fancied sending the ball into St Peter’s Close first up. Shame for Jack as he forgot to wait the ball and it crashed into his leg stump.
Skipper joined makeshift opener Mark A who almost delivered a Dom Quincey-esque innings, smearing the ball off the outside edge straight to point.
Elf number 1 then joined the party but Alan only managed to bunt the ball back to mid off and the scoreboard was rocking at 3-3 early doors.
Dave then joined the party looking to continue where he left off with his ton last week, and three early boundaries were promising before he knicked off, and the score was 23-4 and Skipper had lost his entire top order in the first half hour of play.
Into the bunker we went, and joined by Lieutenant Lee we nursed the scoreboard back to life,
Rob departed for a patient 19 but the blue print had been set for the lower order, batting time and taking the runs on offer when they came.
Mr Addis followed suit with an equally patient 19, before Sammy went one better sticking around for 20 valuable runs.
At the other end Skipper was mixing blocks with boundaries and the scoreboard had reached 147 by the time Sammy left the scene.
Skipper then succumbed, largely due to heat exhaustion for 61 leaving Del and Stu to wag the tail (not much this week) and the innings closed at a below par but defendable 148.
A Dave / Cerys special on the tea - Dave especially proud of his balls!
Then the Del and James show took to the floor - and early success came the way courtesy of a flying catch in the covers (both feet off ground) from Robbo - top grab!
Standard was set but not followed as two costly drops followed, although we will let Rhys off as by now his hands resembled a second rate spider man outfit, bandaged up from a fielding attempt that involved aquaplaning into the scout hut.
Dave was then called upon and delivered a knick behind to give the Machine some hope.
However that was swiftly extinquished by the Pompey number four who went against convention and attempted to mow every ball he faced as far as he could - very successfully as he reached fifty off 17 balls.
James returned to stop the rot, and Rob picked up another late wicket but the game was up as the Pompey lads got home with 6 wickets in the shed.
A battling performance but not enough runs was the issue this week.
Next Week - Away at top of the league, bookies are predicting a shock though!
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Man of the Match - Rob had a good day with runs, wickets and a flying catch but skipper takes it for a grafting fifty.
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Champagne Moment - Flying grab in the covers does it for Robbo
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Donut of the Day - top marks for commitment Rhys, but sliding top speed on concrete was always going to end up as Gravel 1 - Rhys’s hands 0!