Wick 113 a/o Miles 42
Sinjun Grammarians 10ish
Match Abandoned
Wick: Edmonds*, Copeland+, Miles, Clark, Strange, Cooper, Ritchie, Smith, Taylor, Bendall, Allen
Oppo: Lots and lots of South Africans
 |
| New Captain Edmonds Rallies the 4s Before Play |
The story of Noah is a pretty basic one. From memory God
decides to clean up a bit and sends some biblical rain down. He warns Noah in
advance so he can pack up his family, breeding pairs of every animal he can lay
his hands on and some grub into a big floating zoo he has knocked up.
Post the watery apocalypse, Noah releases all the animals into
the wild and they get down to the business of restoring nature’s order.
Meantime Noah and his family shag like rabbits and repopulate the world. It’s surprising
if you believe the Old Testament that the entire planet is not then covered
with people suffering terrible genetic disorders, but there you go. This column
is not one for philosophical endeavour or for the questioning of belief
systems.
Yesterday there was no Ark available when the heavens opened
with the Wick 4s at an even 87-5 on a terrible deck. Just the newly refurbished
storage hut on Kingsfield. It is a new testament
to the hard work done by folk on Groundforce day that it is possible to get 22 people
into the hut without players having to remove scythes or pitchforks from their
anii when they stand up as in previous years. But at the same time, sitting
down in what equates on match day to a cold stable crossed with an extremely
messy laundry that has been knocked through into a cricket shop, is not the way
that one would choose to spend their Saturday.
When it came to the repopulation afterwards, Sinjuns’ South
African bowlers did the rogering. In ten overs après la deluge the Wick
subsided to 9 down for the addition of only 13 runs. Uckerman did not concede a
run in taking two wickets in five overs. Wick wickets fell as if the batsmen’s
eyes had failed to adjust from the darkness of the Kingsfield shed to the by
now blazing sunshine. Gentlemen – only a late flurry of blows from Mr Allen
preserved our blushes to post 113.
But it was not a defendable 113. While Sinjuns deservedly
were on top in the game after making the most of the condition of the pitch to
remove the Wick top order, and later to skittle the tail, they were not so in
charge that they should be set a target of 66 runs in 20 overs to win the
match. That the travail of trying to build an innings on such a pitch could be
triumphed over by 11 swift blows would be a travesty, surely? But that is how
the rain rules work.
The Wick were sent into bat on what was a really offensively
damp track. The ball created divots from the off and balls ballooned over
batsmen and bounced out of reach as the oppo bowlers revelled in being able to
bang it in and not concede. Miles was pinged on the helmet and Clark bobbed and
weaved in his new lid too. In the fourth over Clark drove one that stopped in
the pitch back to the bowler having mentally told himself not to do exactly
that.
Harry faced one ball and then decided to ask Phil to run two
to long off. Phil is strictly a one or four kind of batsman as you will know
and failed to be convinced. Harry, with that distinct crouched running style
that reminds this writer of the way in which The Fraggles move around on
Fraggle Rock, almost managed to run three to avoid losing his wicket but he was
beaten by the throw. When Rob Ritchie, having added a new shot to his armoury,
swept at a dobber unfortunately he did so so early that he was through the shot
and allowed the ball to balloon off the back of the bat to first slip, the Wick
were already anxiously looking up and wondering if rain could save them.
At the other end, Phil Miles was playing a typically robust
innings. Like Marcus Trescothick, Miles eschews foot movement and throws his
hands at the ball whatever the delivery. This was as effective a strategy as
any other and Jonny Allen also used it to great effect later. A cover drive off
the back foot was his best offering but by no means the only pretty shot he played.
He deserved more but did not add to his score after the rain break.
For the home side Will Strange looks to be a good addition to
the squad. One lofted boundary showed much promise but he was skittled by a pea
roller before he could really get going. Ed Cooper’s pull shots were timed beautifully
and a couple rocketed to the boundary. But he was unable to survive the pitch
for long. Jonny made 26 as the innings subsided but could do little more as he
ran out of partners.
This track should really not have been played on as it
continued to rain. While it was legitimate to start the game, it took too much water
and the Sinjuns bowlers could only really stay on their feet by bowling off a
couple of paces. They were keen to press home the advantage that they had created
but torrential rain during tea finally ruined the pitch.
Without much enthusiasm The Wick took to the field with the adjusted
target of 66 to defend in 20 overs. The deck was absolutely unplayable at this point
but Sinjuns scented blood and thought they could do the victory target quite
quickly if they were lucky.
Dave Bendall manfully ran in for an over and looked
suspiciously at the footmarks after every ball. Old man Smith managed a couple
of legitimate balls before slipping and collapsing like a tall tree felled in a
jungle clearing in his follow through, presaging urgent negotiation and the end
of the match.
Positives to be taken – Miles and Allen’s batting, Strange
and Cooper cameos. Negatives: Smith mentioned games played with biscuits during
tea and his eyebrows seem to have become incredibly bushy during the Winter
lending him a menacing air. Oh. Tea. Absolutely nothing new. J S Sainsbury brought
to you with exactly the same skill and dedication as previous seasons. A 6
because this writer’s hopes of innovation were dashed.
If Sinjuns were minded to grumble that we did not simply
acquiesce to bowling off two paces and lobbing it up to allow them to win, a
final biblical volume of rain came beating down from above as we packed up the stable
/ laundry / cricket shop to clean away the stain of the match and its
unfortunate end. It is only a miracle that some of the worst offenders in the Wick
batting display were not the intended targets of the deluge. Edmonds, who had
looked quietly furious all day, stalked back to the pavilion quietly pleased.
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