The Oppo didn’t call correctly at last!
On a hot and humid day at Limpsfield, the Oppo finally called the toss wrongly so Woody had a chance to decide how we’d lose this week!
It looked like a used wicket, and with our predominantly spin attack, the spin quads were licking their lips at bowling on what we hoped might resemble Galle on the 5th day.
But Woody had other ideas, fearing our fragile batting he decided to opt for a 40 0vers match (even though both our hitters Val & Brad were missing) and he opted to bowl first.
Call me a conspiracy theorist but I think he is trying to finish off some of the older members to make way for the new generation of Beechwoodians, such as Danny, Lewis Hill, Joe & Kieran Boss and Molly Salmon who could be the first girl to play regularly for the club.
Ouch!
TCC always seemed to be going at about 5 an over, despite all the bowlers doing a good job in the humid conditions, wickets fell and at 153 after 32 overs we hoped to keep them to about 200. Unfortunately their big hitter (Enever 82*) came off big time and they finished on 223 for 6.
Notables during their innings were the excellent never say die fielding of Jonty Robinson , Joe Boss pointing out to Woody in the deep how far Enever was hitting it during the final onslaught and one huge six off Woody hit the school roof breaking several tiles!
Unfortunately some heads went down in the field, notable amongst them I’m ashamed to say was this humble correspondent!
Tea was taken with most of us glad to be able to put our feet up, several members had showers to cool down, both heat and temper wise.
Fightback!
For once our fragile batting delivered, Freeman & Kelly batted positively to open with 57 after 13 overs, both went to attacking shots in quick succession, we held our breath for the expected collapse but it never materialised with Warner (70) and McCrea (35*) both batting well in a partnership of 123, special note must go to Adrian who played himself back into form with an excellent innings, well done mate.
We finished after our 40 overs on 195 for 3, a good effort all round.
Pick of the bowlers and a general thorn in our side all day was the excellent Enever who bowled consistently good accurate spells.
The only criticism I would have and it seems harsh was that TCC scored 70 off their last 8 overs, we only scored 36 off our last 8 overs and finished with 7 wickets in hand.
I was umpiring at the time and can assure all it wasn’t down to lack effort from our batters, fatigue after a long day in the field and no Val or Brad probably made the difference.
The post match craic was as ever excellent!
Beechwood:
Boss, Cooksley, Freeman, Kelly, McCrea, Makin (wk), Robinson, Savory, Warner, Williams, Woodward (c)
Final word from the DOC:
When the going gets tough, there aren't too many in the Beechwood XI right now I'd want alongside me in the trenches. Time for a few members to consider taking up bowls instead, or better still, cordless bungee-jumping! |
