Hit
or Miss 168 all out (46.2 overs)
WCC 137 or so for 9 (37 overs)
Toss - Weekenders
Lovely
day in the sun in Buckinghamshire – fine roast dinners and beer, both of which
were ordered by the skipper remotely as he made his way to the ground by taxi.
Reasonable wicket, but grassy outfield kept boundaries to a minimum and twos to
a maximum as red-faced batsmen gasped for air.
Opposition away slowly, after early lbw success by Mick “Porsche” Gallagher, and
tidy spells from PJ Harvey plus a good long toad from Morty Vickery held them
in check, but two well-set batsmen took some chances and both got past fifty.
Tidy stuff from the Skip and Mike “marvel” Harvey (who’d pulled off a nifty run-out
earlier) held things in check and whittled away the last seven wickets.
We’ve
always had a gallon of respect for the Skipper’s knowledge of the game but his
understanding of his own game is especially impressive. Before his first delivery he set the field
with a simple gesture and just two words:
‘Sailor. Cow.’ Sailor set a course to the deep mid-wicket boundary and
obliged with two steeplers. d’Inverno also produced a clever long-hop which was
lashed and then brilliantly caught by the outstretched right hand of Gallagher,
the essence of cool while the Skip jumped up and down like an idiot.
The strike of the day was Morty’s throw to the bowler’s end – it was nowhere
near the stumps but pinged the batsman
clean on the skull. He recovered, but his head sounded better played-in
than the bats the Weekenders used later on.
So to the chase: The double Harvey opening partnership got us underway, then
Morty and Marvel ran hard in a stand of 49 that contained just two
boundaries.
Weekenders
entered the last twenty with eight wickets in hand. Reports vary on the asking
rate (some say it was 7 an over, others 0.7) but it was generally thought to be
gettable. Especially with the Aussies gun bats blazing away.
But
Morty was undone by two cruel strokes of fortune: 1, his girlfriend took a photo
of him at the wicket. 2, d’Inverno phoned the Secretary to say ‘He’s winning it
for us’. Wickets fell regularly until a
scampered Simmonds/Sailor partnership produced 40 from 7 overs including a six
over cow from Flat.
With 40 needed off 4, more wickets fell and eventually Porschy was forced to
lay aside the Home and Leisure section of the Sunday Times and help the skipper
to block out the last 14 balls for a draw.
Husaini kept wicket splendidly, but his wife and daughters still went home
early
Weekenders
celebrated after Curson skilfully avoided being electrocuted by the scoreboard.
Full stats
Bowling
PJ.Harvey 4-1-7-0
M.Gallagher 10-1-34-1
A Vickery 10-0-33-0
Flat Pete 7-1-36-1
Skips 9-2-40-4
M.Harvey 5.5-0-9-3
Catches Sailor Hugh-Jones 2, Porschy Gallagher 1, Morty Vickery 1
Run-out M.Harvey-H.Husaini
Batting
M.Harvey 32
PJ.Harvey 14
M.Desmeules 3
A.Vickery 27
R. ‘Sailor’ Hugh-Jones 24
A.Hart 1
H.Husaini 6
P.Simmonds 18
M.Gallagher 0*
D.Vuletich 0
Skips 0*
Antipodean
count – 6, of which 5 Australian.