WCC v Boughton 10.9.23
30-over match (6 overs max per bowler)
WCC 142-6 (30 overs)
Boughton-Under-Blean
CC 146-6 (27.2 overs)
A wonderful season’s finale,
incorporating three of the Weekenders’ absolute favourite things: oysters,
lifts and a shortened game of cricket. The sun having agreeably gilded the
South Downs for us at Arundel now did its stuff on the North Downs which undulate
westwards below the Mount Ephraim House ground.
The game started promptly at 11.30 in
Whitstable Harbour’s Lobster Shack, with not a single latecomer, and with the
wine and food menu app pre-loaded on the players’ phones. Moreover some of us
managed a dip in the 19-degree sea. Put simply, we could not have prepared more
thoroughly.
WCC batted first on a wicket with a bit
in it for the bowlers. A covering of brown grass caused some uneven bounce, and
its first victim was Dom Laurie, top-edging to gully in the sixth over. Sid Chagule worked hard; positive in defence and always ready
to put away the loose ball. He hit five fours in an excellent knock, which was
cut short by a controversial lbw decision (the Weekenders 4th controversial
lbw in ten days*). At the other end Richard Album was making a highly
promising debut, having begun with a seafood platter followed by a swim in
black trunks, he proceeded to make a brisk 23 - clearly a Weekender with a
future, with or without his trousers on.
Brockis made a busy start, smiting and running hard to push the run rate
up. After Darrell was caught at mid-wicket the innings lost a bit of momentum:
Battersby’s tossed-up wrist spin from the House end proved very difficult to
slog. McCallum then Sackville struck a few much-needed blows while skipper
Husain charged up and down attempting to boost the total, sometimes finding
himself at the same end as his partners.
After a tea even more sumptuous than
Arundel’s (and supplemented by a fridge full of beers), the hosts began their
reply. The Weekenders’ opening attack was notable for the fifty-year age gap
between B. Husaini and your correspondent. The May
and December pair proved that age is just a number; the number, in this case,
being nought for 27 off their first four overs. But thereafter they pitched it
up and ended with almost identical two-fers. Hudson
caused a few tremors and Sackville produced some elegant swing, but the pick of
the bowlers was Max Husaini whose classy leg-breaks
kept the Boughton batsmen tied down. The Weekenders total proved not quite
enough to trouble Boughton’s engine room of Steve Simonini
and ‘Curly’ Clayson, who steered the hosts to victory
with 2.4 overs to spare. In short, Boughton had us by the Steve and Curlies.
WCC 142-6 (30 overs)
S. Chagule
31, D. Laurie 10, R. Album 23, D. Brockis 24, H. Husaini 13, M. McCallum 5, J. Sackville 16 not out.
DNB: B. Husaini,
M. Husaini, D. Hudson, C. Douglas.
Entwistle 5-1-15-0; Atkinson 6-0-33-1; Simonini 3-0-12-0; Clayson
4-0-21-0; Khuraf 6-0-27-2; Battersby 6-1-28-2
Boughton 146-6 (27.2 overs)
H. Harrison 23, A. Harrison 1, A
‘Curly’ Clayson 42 not out, Steve Simonini
43 (retd.), D Shaw 3, N. Gracie 2, N. Atkinson 10, C. Entwistle 0, W. Harrison
4 not out. DNB: M. Battersby, Khuraf.
WCC bowling: Douglas 6-0-29-2; B. Husaini 5-0-25-2; Sackville 4.2-0-32-0; M. Husaini 6-1-20-0; Hudson 6-0-24-1
Catches: Brockis
(kpr) 2; Hudson 1.
*Our sequence of controversial LBWs
could well be even longer. Personal recollections and match reports dating back
to the 1970s attest that many of the Weekenders’ LB dismissals are not merely
controversial but also diabolical, ridiculous, abysmal and an absolute ****ing shitshow.