As I emerged from my pit at around 10am I was confident the game would be off. Looking out of the window I could see only very overcast skies and very damp ground. At least I wouldn't regret opening that 3rd bottle of wine the night before. I made breakfast and settled down in front of the laptop. Soon enough an e-mail came through from the skipper. It consisted of 2 words. 'Game on'. Oh bugger. Arriving at the ground I saw Brian in full flow, removing covers and driving his assorted vehicles around. He had expected morning rain and was a little behind. Eventually the covers were removed and stumps were pitched.
Chris 'lost the toss' Brooks lost the toss but surprisingly Beamers elected to bat first despite the damp conditions. Maybe they had the previous 2 years in mind (2013 Beamers 339-6, RTCC 137-4, 2014 Beamers 305-3, RTCC 173). No Mr Satish this year (he had to return to India following his father's death - our condolences to the Satish family) so Kyle and Matthews strode out to open. 5 minutes later they strode back and the stumps were unpitched as Brian wanted to roll the wicket. Jokes aside Brian worked furiously to get our game on. He is worth his weight in gold. Plus he let Aymon have a go on the roller (pic from Raj to follow).
Eventually we started. Beamers were quickly into their stride though Kyle - who made about 150 last year - looked a little tentative. His first shot in anger sliced straight between Aymon and myself. There were also a couple of prods that landed just short of fielders. There were also some classy drives but it was Matthews who was being the more brutal of the pair, profiting from Greg's difficulty with the cross wind and a damp ball (we did ask for a towel but the one that came out was wet. Odd).
At the other end Andy J was bowling a vintage niggardly spell, but it was Greg who struck first, Matthews pulling fiercely to Simon at mid-wicket, who didn't so much catch it as welcome it into his hands and caressed it like he was at a cricket ball petting zoo. 51-1.
Enter Simon Kemp, who had destroyed us in the past for both Beamers and George Orwell. Except he never looked comfortable. On 7 he thrashed at Andy and the top edge spiralled upwards. It really should've been my catch at point except I was late picking it up. Fear not. Aymon lurched round from gully. It looked for all the world like he wouldn't make it but he threw a last gasp dive, stuck out a hand and the ball obligingly landed in it. Sensational.
67-2 became 80-3 when Andy rattled Booth's stumps. By now 'Road' Raj had replaced Greg. He was proving difficult to get away and rattled through his overs off a 2 pace run up (undoubtedly keen to get back to his fielding position from where he could check his spread bets on his smart phone). But then came the big moment. Kyle shuffled across to a Raj full length delivery and played over it. Ball hit pad. Raj went down on both knees and the umpire rewarded him with a finger. Kyle gone for 40 and us very much in the game.
Andy Rose struck next with a brilliant piece of field positioning. With the hard hitting Buxton senior off strike Andy brought Greg from long on to slip. Pittman obliged with a loopy edge. 145-5. I was tasked with following Raj. Pearce missed a straight one. 2 balls later Buxton junior junior skied one and Aymon took another diving catch. Buxton senior was till there though and he had cottoned on to our tactic of 'giving him the single'. He promptly launched me onto the next pitch. 2 balls later he launched me into Calthorpe. Or so I thought. Turning round I saw Aymon at long on shutting the gate that was blowing in the wind. You'll need to open that again in a moment to go and fetch the ball, thought I. How wrong I was. Alerted by seemingly optimistic shouts of 'catch it' he turned round and located the ball-cum-satellite somewhere in the atmosphere. Following a quick rendition of the Timewarp (a step to the left and then a jump to the right) the ball - for the 3rd time - landed in his bucket-esque hands and Aymon added a stunt roll for good measure. Luckily for Aymon by the time we had ran over to him we were all too knackered to molest him properly.
Next ball Buxton senior junior gave Hugh a simple stumping and I had managed to dismiss a father and both his sons. Unfortunately Mother Buxton wasn't present to give the chance of completing the happy families set.
Edney and Wood added 8 before Guy was brought on. And what chaos he induced. Edney top edged pull. Greg ran in from square leg. The ball popped up out of his hands. No problem, Greg caught it on the way down. Except it then rolled out of his hands. With Edney half way down the wicket Greg flung the ball angrily towards the stumps. It missed both keeper Evans and the stumps by a whisker and sped out to Andy Rose on the short point boundary. The batsmen decided to run. Andy's throw to the bowler's end missed the stumps, Guy and Andy James backing up by a whisker and the batsmen took an overthrow.Yes, a double drop double overthrow double missed run out 2 runs bonanza.
Inspired by this Edney hit the next ball straight to Greg and chanced a single just to see what he could conjure up this time. Unfazed Greg threw to Hugh for a simple run out. 187 all out with 4.3 overs unused.
Simon and Andy R opened the reply facing Booth and Pittman. Simon steered/edged the first ball through the yawningly vacant slip area for 4 then added a 3. The good start was maintained with Andy pulling a 6 in the 4th over and 10 coming from the 5th. 31-0. And the runs kept coming, Simon cutting, Andy pulling and both batsmen not missing any opportunity for a quick single. Kyle and Buxton senior took over but still the runs flowed with the 50 stand raised in the 10th over.
Then suddenly Andy went berserk. In a good way. The first 3 balls of the 14th over disappeared for 4. Add on a 2, a couple of singles, a no ball and a 3 and the over had gone for 20. Buxton senior was replaced by Buxton junior junior. Andy showed no mercy and raced past 50 via 14 off the over. Andy James promptly shouted 'there's a hundred in this for you son'. Guess what happened next? The following over - Edney's first - saw Andy try to pull one that didn't get up. lbw for an excellent 63. 98-1.
I joined Simon and despite slicing a 6 over the short boundary I managed to make things look difficult. Buxton junior junior was extracting some interesting bounce from around leg stump and despite trying an increasingly desperate assortment of shots I only managed a couple of leg byes off him before the wily veteran Edney saw me off as I got a bottom edge to the keeper who took a sharp catch standing up.
Greg joined Simon, 7 runs came from the rest of the over and we were 132-2 from 25. 56 needed off 15. Easy peasy. Surely. Except we've collapsed from better positions. Andy Rose's anxiety about a potentially rising run rate provided the Yin to Andy James' supremely confident Yang. Guy and I busied ourselves with scorebook and scoreboard, hardly daring to believe.
Edney and Wood were proving as difficult to get away as our slower bowlers and when only 1 run came in 2 overs to leave us on 146 after 30 suddenly the game seemed afoot. But Greg and Simon - who had passed 50 by now - knew the score. Of course they did. It was on the board for all to see. Beamers had to keep the field up and the squeeze on but even on a pitch offering assistance 4 an over is hard to defend, especially with a short boundary on one side. Greg and Simon kept their cool and kept accumulating.
With Edney bowled out Kyle returned and bowled a maiden amidst sudden gathering gloom but 10 came off Wood's over at the other end. Greg then added a 4 through backward point but lost his leg stump next ball to Kyle. 173-3, 15 needed from 5.
Ex Beamer Barrie strode out. He knew their game, but they knew his. Pittman to bowl. It was by now rather dark. First ball Simon threw everything he had left at it and the ball flew to the 3rd man boundary. A single and a wide followed, then Barrie was bowled last ball of the over. 9 needed off 4.
Enter Hugh. Kyle still bowling briskly. The keeper fumbled the first ball and a bye was stolen. Hugh had a look at a couple then speared a cover drive for 4. 4 needed off 3. Did I mention it was dark? Pittman conceded 2 singles. 2 off 2. Kyle still bowling. Following a dot ball Hugh located a gap wide of mid on with a drive powerful enough to bring the winning 2 and a first ever weekend victory against Beamers (including their previous incarnation as The New Statesmen).
In awarding the Captain's tankard post-match Chris paid credit to Simon's and Andy's runs, my 4 wickets and - belatedly - Aymon's catches but awarded it to Raj for the crucial dismissal of Kyle. I'm tempted to offer a prize to anyone who can guess the contents of said tankard (offer not open to anyone who was actually there).
DT
