A sunny afternoon greeted Curdridge as the first game of the season arrived, a friendly versus Bishop’s Waltham, with the Bowl in fine condition thanks to the efforts of Jon, Mike and everyone who had pitched in (pun definitely intended) in recent weeks. 35 overs per innings was decided on, and Jules duly strode out to do his usual Losing-The-Toss piece, but in the event a gentleman’s agreement was that the 10-men of Curdridge would bat first. 

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With the league season only a fortnight away, there was no messing about with the batting order, and in went Dom and Rob to open things up. Rob faced the first ball of the season and fulfilled the key objectives of not being out first ball of the season, not being out first ball of the match, and not being out first ball he faced, all in one go, as it bounced low and slow well outside off stump, and the season was up and running.

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Up and running was what happened the next ball. Rob turned a short ball round the corner, confident it would run away down the hill for four, but this was foiled by diving stop by square leg pushed. Dom shouted Yes, Rob shouted no. This exchange continued in a spirited manner, reminiscent of the debates at Putney, whilst the fielder scrambled after the ball, at which point Rob found Dom grounding his bat in the same crease as the ball reached the wicket keeper. Deciding it was worth the risk (…) off sprinted Rob towards the other end of the pitch – if Nathan Lyon can spill the ball instead of an easy run out, it might happen at Curdridge… Clearly the wicket keeper wanted to get in on the fun and managed to throw the ball into Rob’s back, leaving the road clear for the single to be completed, somewhat haphazardly. Nonetheless we were off the mark, and it’s good to get these little misunderstandings out of the way before the league starts!

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After that, the openers settled in to the usual job of nullifying the opening bowlers in the face of bowling and a bounce which had more all sorts than Bertie Bassett, making the flow of runs difficult. On the other hand, a bit of a test is what one wants from the pre-season friendlies, the strip was holding up nicely thanks to the sterling work on the ground, and time at the crease is all to the good. Sadly for Dom this was curtailed as he struck a trademark straight drive, only to find the cover fielder plucking it out of the air for a sharp catch (if he’d not, he may have fa fewer teeth remaining). 

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In came Jules and immediately started to up the run rate, compensating for Rob getting bogged down at the other end in the face of a wily slow bowler, who had an even slower run up (and I do mean slow – if there was a penalty for over rate it would definitely be in the frame!). The score began to mount as the overs ticked by, and with drinks approaching Rob started to find a bit of scoring form again, so naturally then toe-edged one into the keeper’s gloves and was off back to the clubhouse.

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Next up was Jack, and the general Curdridge Batting Plan 1A (the openers negate the opening bowlers, the next batsmen plunder the runs) seemed to be working, as Jack immediately started finding the boundary with regularity, backed up by Jules, and the scoreboard was soon accelerating.

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A change of bowling brought a breakthrough, as Jack missed a floaty one and Sam’s finger went up like a rocket, complemented by a grin the size of a Cheshire cat – not sure why he enjoyed giving Jack out so much, perhaps it was the prospect of the tail end getting a bat… Not long after, Jules reached his well-crafted 50 and kindly retired (just for the innings, it’s not the end of his cricketing career!) to give more batsmen time at the crease.

 

Alan and Mark Emm formed the next partnership, keeping the run rate ticking and shepherding the innings along as the score mounted and more bowlers cycled through, before Mark was run out pushing for runs in the last over, bring in new addition to the club George, to stand at the non-striker’s end for two balls (but it’s a not out on the record nonetheless!). 161-4 was a decent score for the first game of the season with everyone finding their feet (some quicker than others).

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Onto the bowling (and fielding – a sore point last season which we really need to improve on this year). A newish-look opening attack of Mike and Tom would take on the Bishop’s Waltham openers, but it was with a run-out that Curdridge struck in the first over, with Rob swooping in from cover to pick and throw, one bounce into Jack’s gloves and the bails were taken over, with the departing batsman rather having been sold down the river.

 

The fielding was off to a good start, and the whole side backed this up with energy and agility, hopefully heralding good things for the season – so much so that only having 10 in the field wasn’t really noticeable throughout.

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Mike and Tom kept the bowling tight, and Mike soon struck, surprising the batsman by bowling a straight one which cannoned into the pads for LBW and Mike’s first wicket of the season. Not to be outdone, a third wicket soon followed as Tom picked up his first of the season, Jules pouching a catch in the deep, never in doubt, and Bishop’s Waltham were rattled. Tight bowling kept the runs down, particularly from Tom conceding only 9 runs from his 5 overs.

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A rally from the batsmen did come, though, and the runs began to mount, although not really ever getting ahead of the required rate. A change of bowling brought George and Sam into the attack. Sam surprised us all by occasionally using the whole crease to bowl from, although to no avail, whilst at the other end it made a nice change to have a left-arm bowler on our side (judging by the number we faced last year!) with George getting his first Curdridge run-out with the ball in hand. At drinks the wicket-keeping duties would change, as Jack handed the pads over to Alan. Soon after a wicket would come, George starting his Curdridge tally as the ball was lofted straight into Jack’s hands, as he proved he could catch without gloves, too.

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Not content with runs and catch, Jack also somehow persuaded Jules to let him bowl and, sickeningly, knocked the stumps over (he bowled the batsman, I don’t mean he tripped and fell on top of them or a anything…). With Mark having taken over the bowling at the other end he would pick up a wicket too - the Jack Childs show rounding out with a running catch along the boundary. 

As if to emphasise the turnaround in our fielding from last season, a further wicket was picked up by Sam, with a direct-hit run out, and the Bishop’s Waltham innings ended on 132-7, and a 29-run victory for Curdridge. 

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A good performance all round, a decent score put on the board and tight fielding and bowling, with a word to both our wicket keepers Jack and Alan with only two byes conceded.

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We of course owe big thanks to all those who got the pitch ready, and also to Jan for taking up scoring duties once again. And apologies for the lack of gratuitous animal-themed metaphors this week, I’m sure those will come. 

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Next Saturday, another friendly, versus Clanfield, before the league begins on the 2nd May.

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Champagne Moment: Several candidates this week – Jules’ first 50 of the season, Rob’s run out, Sam’s run out, but it probably goes to Jack’s running catch on the boundary off Mark’s bowling.

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Donut of the Day: It was looking difficult after a good all-round performance, but then we learned that Jack had walked out to keep wicket carrying his bat with him… interesting choice, and definitely deserving of a Donut award.

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Man of the Match: a good innings from Jules, and great spell of bowling from Tom, but it’s three in three this week with Jack’s 34 off 24 balls, two catches and a wicket to his name.