RTCC v Mighty Wanderers at North London
Sunday 8th May 2016
(40 overs)
Mighty Wanderers 208
RTCC 132
RTCC lost by 76 runs
Early season at Ferme Park usually conjures up images of barely cut green-tops, but the sight of sprinklers in full flow on the square nevertheless came as a bit of a surprise. As it turned out, we had been relocated to the North London main pitch. Hopes of a pristinely prepared pitch were soon quashed, however, when a closer inspection of the 22 yards revealed a thick matting of grass that suggested a rather homeopathic approach to mowing by the groundsman. “This might be over in an hour” was one verdict.
With Mighty Wanderers and Taverners alike assembled, a coin was tossed and we took to the field, boosted in numbers by the late recruitment of Sam and Wanderers-loanee Alex. It fell to Sam to grab the cherry from the pavilion end, his probing line and lengths setting the tone for a fine opening spell that accounted for one of their openers, who was as comprehensively bowled as they come: The top of off-stump was split in half and one bail had to be retrieved from fine leg.
Martin, sharing the new ball, joined the fun soon after. Their number 3 edged a cut straight into Hugh’s gloves, making it 17-2. Things were looking good and were about to get better. Martin’s experiments with different paces yielded results: Push it through, land it on the seam and let the pitch do its bit - a ploy that bowled their number 4. Shrewdly, Martin chose to repeat the trick the next ball, with the result very much the same. 43-4. While the hat-trick ball averted, Martin wasn’t finished just yet and picked up their number 6 for a duck, another bowled victim.
54-5 is what can usually be described as quite a dominant position, and predictions about the pitch making short work of the game seemed apt. Opener Stephen was still there, though. He was happy to take the aerial route to dispatch the ball to the boundary and annoyingly had a knack for picking out the gaps in the field on all but one occasion (a tough chance spilled by extra cover running in). He was joined by number 7, Will, and with so much time left in the match they decided to eliminate any chance of a run-out by only dealing in boundaries.
By the time Andy James’s mate and new Taverner William arrived on the boundary in the 15th over, these two had taken the score past 100. “You’re getting smacked!” was a pretty good assessment of the situation, but he showed true Taverners spirit (or foolishness) and decided to join us in the field nonetheless. Buoyed by the arrival of an eleventh man, or possibly just due to Martin’s continued excellent bowling, a wicket came. Shortly after reaching 50, Stephen finally picked out a fielder with another lofted shot, Dom taking a smart catch at long-on to give Martin his much-deserved five-fer.
The double-quick partnership of 59 now broken, there were hopes of us being able to bowl at the tail. Chance would be a fine thing, of course. Their number 8 was no mug and expertly granted strike to the big hitter at every opportunity, while latching on to any loose deliveries himself. Will came good on his apology at drinks (“I’m sorry, I’m *trying* to get out!”) and offered two sharp chances, one spilled by Alex running backwards, one just eluding Hugh, who had run all the way to point to dive for a skier. It would take another 48 sixes-raining, four-crunching runs before the breakthrough finally came. Sam was back in the attack by then and had decided to bowl spin. The temptation was too much for Will and Guy held on well to a steepler to finally see him off for 75.
161-7 quickly turned into 161-8 as Barrie picked up a deserved wicket and there was a real chance of bowling them out for under 200. Number 8 had other ideas, though, and adjusted from supporting a big hitter to shepherding the tail instead. I finally bowled him for 29, before William wrapped up the innings in his impressive first-ever over for us, bowling the number 11 to leave the total at 208, scored off just 29.something overs.
Tea was taken and although we had seen the ball jag around, the pitch seemed more docile than we first thought. With just over five an over required we were certainly in a good position to deliver our first victory of the season.
Barrie and I opened and while it took a few overs for either of us to get off the mark, extras meant that after 10 overs we were 33-0. With the opening bowling pair (incidentally also their two bats who passed 50) taking a well-deserved blow, we decided that the time had come to cash in. Unfortunately their left-arm change bowler had other plans and Barrie soon perished lbw for 9. William, who had patiently waited for his turn to bat despite being due to leave for work, came in at 3 and smashed his first ball – a high beamer – for 4. The next ball turned out to be better and although William got a decent chunk of bat on it, he was brilliantly caught on the 45 by the fielder diving forwards. 59-2 off 15 overs meant we were still behind the rate, but with plenty of batting to come.
Wanderers changed their bowlers regularly, not allowing Andy P and myself to really get used to one attack. In fact, their leg-spinning 5th bowler was taken off by the captain mid-over, claiming a mystery injury brought on by, apparently, bowling too many wides.
Perhaps sensing the pressure mounting, Will was brought back on. He dropped one in short, it kept low and I was lbw for 18. The skipper had made the pavilion end his own by then, reeling of over after over. He managed to break Andy’s stout defence to bowl him for 2, and with Alex following suit for a duck soon afterwards, we were suddenly 66-5 and in deep trouble. With the two openers sharing bowling duties at the other end, it seemed like a good plan to attack skipper Winter (what a name!). Dom and Martin did just that, striking some lusty blows, until the former misjudged the flight and chipped to mid-off to depart for 14.
Enter Hugh. With close to a hundred runs still needed of 15 overs, this felt like the partnership that would have to take us close to the target. The signs were good as Hugh, who had timed the ball beautifully even when he was facing throw-downs on the boundary, went about his business. He was looking impeccable on 22 when it happened.
The left arm seamer was bowling up the hill and delivered a quick bouncer. Hugh pulled powerfully, but the ball reared up higher than expected. The top-edge was found and the ball connected sharply with Hugh's head. It was immediately clear that he was in real trouble, going to ground clutching his face in agony. Ice bags and towels were quickly brought out in a flurry of activity. After a couple of minutes umpire Aymon helped Hugh onto his feet and escorted him off the field. Andy James, who had come to watch the game, drove him straight to Whittington.
After that shock, Chris joined Martin at the crease. His decision not to wear a lid (“Lightning doesn’t strike twice…”) was instantly tested when he top-edged his first scoring shot - luckily over both his and the keeper’s head - for 4. More boundaries followed before he too picked out mid-off off the wily bowling of Winter for 12. The writing was on the wall when Martin then succumbed to Stephen. Andy P (on umpire duties) at first thought that was that and started drawing stumps and shaking hands, to the confusion of Guy coming in at no 11. With stumps replaced, the bowler then did his all to dismantle them again and succeeded just two balls later to leave us all out for 132.
The disappointment of the loss was quickly washed away in the pavilion in the excellent company of the Mighty Wanderers, but the concern for Hugh can’t be shaken off quite so easily. Here’s to a quick recovery and that we see you out on a cricket field again very soon. Get well soon, mate!
Matthias Winter
