A difficult match report to write, this one, after a difficult afternoon on the pitch, so you will forgive me if I don’t deploy the full force of my usual epigraphical loquaciousness in conveying you the events of the afternoon.

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The sun had not only got its hat on and come out to play, but it had brought a mate along too, so it was with some relief that Jules won the toss and elected to bat first. Out strode Dom and Rob as usual to open the batting.

 

True to form, the runs began to arrive as Dom picked off the bowling, whilst at the other end Rob negated the opening bowlers – although negating them by scoring runs more quickly would always help, too. Some tricky bowling to negotiate initially, and a fielding side who immediately got into their stride with enthusiastic appealing. However, a bit of a partnership began to build,  mostly thanks to Dom but with runs at the other end too. 

 

The score moved towards the 40s, and the openers had seen off the opening bowlers’ spell. Rob moved into double figures, just beginning to find some rhythm then faced a slow, short-pitched ball – and of course his eyes lit up and he missed it. Annoying, to be sure, but some glimmers of reasons to be optimistic going forward.

 

Dom, imperious at the other end, was joined by Jules, still on a good run of form. Between them they would steadily increase the score, on a hot day and in the face of continued enthusiastic appeals from the fielding side, and a wicketkeeper throwing down the stumps at every opportunity. The score moved beyond 100, before the partnership was broken and Jules departed with the score on 126. A solid foundation to push on from. Unfortunately, Dom was soon to follow, nicking behind to the wicket keeper for a well-crafted 57. It would fall to Jack and Craig to continue the good work.

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This they duly did, with powerful hitting and well-placed shots all around the bowl, bringing the score onwards and over the 200 mark, ensuring full batting points once again. With the total on 206 Jack lost his stumps, and Alan would quickly follow, top-edging straight back to the bowler’s hands. Only a few runs later Craig was also out, 7 runs shy of a half century, and the innings looked to be subsiding, with the loss of Giles and then Josh, we were in danger of being bowled-out before the end of our overs.

 

A late attack by George got the score up into the 220s, and careful batting by both he and Mike ensured Tuskers wouldn’t claim the last bowling point, but a total of 227-9 felt ten or twenty runs short of where we could have been. Our score was notably assisted by the 45 extras Tuskers gave away, as some of their bowlers toiled in the heat.

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It had been a long innings, hampered by constant field changes, a considerable number of discussions as to why not every appeal was out, and an unfortunate injury to one of the Tuskers bowlers, forcing him to retire from the match. Kudos to Josh and Jules for stepping up to field for the opposition, and doubtless relief that no catches came their way!

 

A quick tea was in order to try to catch up on time, and many thanks to George for stepping in and saving the day on the Friday by volunteering to make the sandwiches.

 

So, a defendable total even if short of what we might like, and only nine wickets to take with the injured Tuskers player departing for home. George and Mike opened the bowling, and it soon seemed apparent it just wasn’t going to be their afternoon; Mike in particular managing to do everything to the batsmen bar find their wicket, an undeserved return for a great spell of bowling. Nonetheless, the score began to mount, aided and abetted by the odd dropped catch, allowing Tuskers to reach 97 before the first wicket fell, as Sam foxed the batsman, darting one through to clatter into the stumps.

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Sam followed this up with a dance of celebration… after the match it was referred to as the chicken dance. Well, in this case I can only say it must be the chicken which only got halfway across the road before being squashed by an errant armoured personnel carrier…

 

It has been a characteristic of our games so far this season, though, that heads have not dropped, and despite the opening stand the energy was still there and it still felt like we could win the match. A second breakthrough would rapidly follow, with Jack luring (I’m sure it was deliberate, no, really, I’m sure it was…) the batsman into a powerful hook down towards deep square leg – but this would only be directed towards Sam, who in recent seasons has learned to use his hands in the field, and a fine catch was taken, to leave the score on 99-2.

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Jack’s spell would continue, and chances for another wicket came and went, despite some excellent shouts, including an LBW not given because the umpire was looking at his phone – indeed the umpire openly stated that that was his excuse… - and a not-out stumping decision which could very reasonably be described as subjective. 

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A new partnership would mount, as the overs ticked down, but the run rate required vacillated between 6 to 8 runs an over, it was always going to be anyone’s game, and neither side could land a knockout blow. With the score on 153 Giles struck, with the ball lofted into Jules’ hands. I think it is fair to point out that this was after some controversy, when the other batsman had walked away as Giles bowled at him – the stumps were gone, but a difference of opinion as to whether the batsman was out or not resulted in a reprieve. On another day, who can say…

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A fired-up Giles would go on to take a further two wickets in rapid succession, and Jules also picked up a rare LBW, and Tuskers found themselves on 168-6. Unfortunate it was, then, that another partnership ensued, despite the best efforts of the bowlers and in the field. More dropped catches would cost us as the score grew ever closer, even as Tuskers began to run out of overs. With three overs to go 24 runs were needed, but a couple of big overs saw only 4 needed from the final over. Despite this, Giles would take it to the penultimate ball of the match before Tuskers got over the line.

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A difficult loss to take, for a variety of reasons, but despite on-pitch controversies, realistically 10 to 15 more runs and we may have won it; holding our catches and I think it’s fair to say we probably would. We were fortunate that last week’s abandoned match didn’t see our dropped catches cost us, today it did. Some things to work on.

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Despite the disappointment, there are good things to take away – the batsmen are scoring (or beginning to score), and the application in the field remains positive, with a renewed realisation that matches are won in the field as well as with runs and wickets.

 

Big thank you to Jan and Hayley for scoring, particularly in the heat, and also to Tom and Mike for getting the pitch ready.

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Next week, away at Burridge, hopefully in rather cooler conditions!

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Man of the Match: Dom’s 57 anchored the first half of the innings and helped build a platform.

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Champagne Moment: No one moment this week, though Sam’s catch was pretty good, and some outstanding fielding efforts included a couple of rapid dives from Josh preventing the ball running away for byes.

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Donut of the Day: There’s only one candidate this week, and it goes to Sam for pulling out “dance” moves we earnestly hope we won’t see again…