RTCC 134-8
Highgate 135-4
As I strolled along the Shepherds' Cot lane for the last time this season it quickly became apparent that we were the only game in the village. Crouch End CC, Ferme Park and North London all had their squares dug up or surrounded by fencing or both, whilst Highgate looked resplendent - if understandably damp - in the September sunshine. North London's Andy scurried by with wheelbarrows and tools whilst Martin couldn't help but admire their wide variety of grass cutting devices. This lead to the invention of lawnmower top trumps, which led to Taverner top trumps, which led to Dungeons and Taverners. Yes, it was that sort of afternoon. But if you can't play up on the last day of term...
A couple of days before the game Matthias had sent out an e-mail appealing for players. Not for us though, we had 12. It transpired that Highgate were short. James Reilly - as our 12th man - was sent for, travelling down from Oxford. We were then told that the opposition had 11 after all. Oh. Awkward. Then Eirran mentioned that Tony had phoned him to get James to play as Tony was triple booked. Great. Problem solved. At which point Highgate's Johan stuck his head round the door to ask after our 12th man as they were 1 short. Oh. Confused? Don't be, it's all part and parcel of Tavern cricketing life. They ended up making an emergency phone call to Tom Whyte of The Bohemians. Quite a handy guest to have.
Chris went out to toss and let out a yelp. We thought Highgate's captain had stood on his foot, but no - Chris had won the toss which meant we could bat first and he could watch the Spurs game. Except he then volunteered to field for the oppo as they still had 2 players en route. He returned just in time to see Man City score.
Dominic and James opened and knuckled down against some accurate bowling. They added 33 before Dom went back to one that nipped in to him and was lbw. Next over James followed suit, though I missed it as I was padding up. Eirran soon followed, walking after getting the faintest of nicks then Holly spun one past AndyP's forward prod to hit off stump. 54-4.
AndyG and I briefly stopped the rot before another 4 wickets fell for 16 runs. Leg spinner Ball turned one past Andy who overbalanced fractionally and was stumped. Chris tore himself away from the football to score 2 before being bowled via a pad, returning just in time to see Spurs score their 3rd. I then chucked it away by carving a long hop to backward point. Martin hit a huge six but then drove a catch to mid off. 96-8. The departing Martin greeted the incoming Jeet with the instruction to get us past a hundred. Jeet spent several overs trying to get us there in one hit but failing. We eventually got there thanks to 2 wides and a no ball, at which point he and Matthias settled in for the long haul. Indeed, the pair managed to see out the overs, much to number 11 Barrie's disbelief. They added 38 to at least give us something to bowl at.
After tea - which featured the long lost classic of Swiss Roll - Jeet and Martin opened. Martin - in full Dungeons and Taverners mode - rolled the 12 sided dice and cast Magic Yorker, which bowled Simeon. Jeet then swung one into Johan's pads to win an lbw. 26-2. Further success came when first change Matthias bowled Shelleysmith and Barrie had Alywn caught, but 76-4 was as good as it got. Holly eased his way to an untroubled 50, bypassing the nervous 40s by planting me for successive sixes over long on. The end came in the 29th over. Bit of a stuffing, but nevertheless a very pleasant way to end the season. We decamped to the Railway afterwards where beer was had in spades. Thank god I don't have to play cricket today....
