Highgate Taverners v WCC

WCC won by 104 runs

This new fixture, at the socially vibrant Whetstone Wanderers football ground, was barely an hour old when a dressing-room thief made off with two wallets and an ipod belonging to Jeyaratnam and his mate Nathan. Nathan was helping us out for the day and as a debut it ranks alongside Dr Atherton’s unfortunate smack in the ‘nads at Garboldisham and subsequent four hours A&E.

Morty, Hoggers and Coops tucked into some appetising bowling, and Jeyaratnam had reached 42 off about 19 balls when he suffered a second robbery. Hearing a shout of ‘250 up’ from the scorers’ table, he thought he’d got to his half-century and slapped the next one up in the air to give someone else a go. That’s what he said anyway.

The last wicket partnership between High Tower and the four foot Sean Becket was one of the sights of the day, possibly shaded as a spectacle in the second innings by the home umpire standing in black boots and trousers rolled up to the knee. A can of lager nursed in one hand prevented the official from signalling properly for fear of spillage, thus wides became no-balls and four byes became four runs. One batsman, Thompson, benefitted extravagantly from the high number of quick deliveries to evade the ‘keeper’s gloves, and made one of the most unusually compiled fifties I’ve ever seen.

A slightly one-sided game was nevertheless enjoyed by those fortunate enough not to be robbed in one way or another. In these jaded times for cricket it was especially heartening to see the home scorer’s roared, air-punching reaction to the final delivery of the match – he’d got the batsmens’ totals and the bowling analyses to tally. The host’s captain remarked wisely at the end ‘We’ve got a lot of postives out of today – we’re positive we’re never playing this lot again.’

Morty, High Tower, Marvel and Franksie are still believed to be watching the World Cup Final in the Whetstone Wanderers bar (exposed midriffs and smoking compulsory).

WCC 292-9 from 35 overs (club record?)
Vickery 50, Hogben 33, Cooper 79, Harvey+ 0, Jeyaratnam 42, Franks 10, N. Curtis 1, Swift 17*, Douglas 8, S. Becket 2*
Extras: wides 34, no balls 4, byes 6, leg bye 1.

Highate Taverners 188-6 from 35 overs
Douglas 8-0-36-0, Swift 7-0-26-0, Jeyaratnam 3-0-14-1, Franks 4-0-13-2, Harvey 5-0-20-2, Cooper 3-0-15-0, Becket 2-0-16-0, Vickery 3-1-23-1
Catches: Douglas 1, Vickery 1.
Stumping (or run out depending on your POV): 1 Curtis

Debuts: Nathan Curtis, Sean Beckett