STONOR ROCKS AND MARVEL MISSES OUT

 

WCC 85 (42 overs)

Stonor 86-4 (30 overs)

Stonor won by six wickets

 

Mike Harvey started the season in a blaze of glory with a full team sheet plus a five-child back-up and seven names already on the list for next Sunday. Marvel's confidence had never been higher as he padded up to face the first ball of the Weekenders' 2008 campaign. A single throwdown in the nets was all he wanted to get his eye in. Unfortunately it bowled him. As did the next one he faced in the middle.

 

But the perky Sydneysider slid dutifully into the umpire’s jacket and presided over the reconstruction of the innings. As a rebuild it was perhaps a shade slower than Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia cathedral nevertheless after 18 overs the Weekenders were 21 for 3. A few meaty blows and vegetarian wafts got us to a position if not of dominance then at least of relief that we wouldn’t all be standing outside the pub at ten to four waiting for the doors to open.

 

Thanks to some incisive bowling from newcomer Dibley and an astonishing below-the-waist catch from Dunne, Stonor struggled to get going, taking twelve overs to reach 30 for three. Highlights of a useful Weekenders fielding effort included a fine snaffle from debutant Wahi and a near miss to the cranium of Read, making a welcome return to the side. But the new skipper Mayo steered his boys to a convincing win.

 

So a day that for Mike Harvey had offered such rich promise ended in disappointment. But even in the dark hour of our defeat the fates were conspiring to play on him a trick of surpassing cruelty. Shortly after Marvel left to drive his family home The Crown at Pishill started serving free beer.

 

It was the last day of the landlord’s tenure and the ‘Enders were in no mood to risk giving offence with a refusal. The place was a roiling mass of thirsty humanity, locals fighting their way to the bar with a ferocity that offered some clues as to how they’d acquired the 4x4 Audis and BMWs that thronged the car park.

 

WCC 85

M Harvey 0, Wahi 8, Cooper 10, Lyons 0, Dunne 9, Douglas 24, Smee 10, Vuletich 1, Dibley 1, d’Inverno 2, Read 0* (marooned)

 

Marshall 6-2-11-1; Brown 10-4-15-1; Fennell 10-4-21-2; Agar 6-1-11-0; Powell 5-1-9-1; Nicholson 5-2-9-2; Lovatt 1-0-1-1; Denton 1-0-2-1

Catches: Lovatt 3, Nicholson 1, Keeper 1 and 1 stumping. Run out 1

 

Stonor 86-4

J Denton 18, B Denton 0, J Powell 9, J Mayo 29*, D Fennell 14, M Lovatt 4*

 

Douglas 10-4-13-0; Dibley 7-0-24-3; Cooper 5-1-15-0; Lyons 1-0-8-0; Dunne 5-1-13-1; Harvey 2.1-2-1-0

 

Catches: Wahi, Dunne and sub(Marshall)

 

Debuts: Nick Dibley and Saurabh Wahi

 

 

Weekenders in the media:

Chris Fisher (1977-2005) spotted in background of a delicatessen sequence in The Apprentice.