We've made it into August...and summer has finally arrived. It would seem that a few of us were taking advantage of the weather with Beechwood reliant on three late call-ups to field a team and our hosts, Tatsfield, apparently unable to call on the services of SIXTEEN of their squad. All things considered then, both teams did well to field a full side, with Beechwood successfully luring Lee Bates away from the stage and its groupies for his first outing of the season, and also giving a warm welcome to Larry Culhane for his debut, another recruit from Sheen Park which is slowly replacing the ailing South Beckenham as it's premier feeder club.
Furze Corner is a pretty setting for a cricket match...once you locate it; it makes Merstham's entrance seem prominent. Luckily, none of us had any car trouble as you'd hate to have a breakdown truck out looking for it! (Sorry Hamish!). And anyway, it’s always amusing to read signposts for localities such as "Titsey Park" and "Beaver World" as you drive up and down looking for it. To the cricket... Tatsfield won toss, acting skipper Freeman calling unsuccessfully, and elected to bat first in a 40-over match. Opener Eames (K) showed his intentions early, square-cutting McLachlan's first over for eight runs, but interestingly, offering a chance which fell just short of a diving Warner at point... the first of several chances and half-chances he would offer throughout his innings. Bates opened the bowling with Hamish and The Blaster who still does exactly what it says on the tin...jagging the ball both ways, batsmen frequently playing and missing, Lee showed no rustiness in spite of the lack of cricket he's had of late. Chances went a-begging...
Savory and Robinson the chief culprits, and in between these, Eames set about hitting Hamish out of the attack. Savory replaced Hamish and stemmed the flow of runs a little and Bates was being especially miserly from the other end, and eventually broke through, forcing Eames to edge to 'keeper with the score on 58. A welcome dismissal this one, for had Mr Eames hung around it would have seemed a long old afternoon for the fielders. Cooksley replaced Savory and immediately saw the back of the other opener, Salmon showing us all how it should be done with a superbly judged catch running in from point. Blaster finished his spell, his eight overs costing just eleven runs and he was replaced by new boy Culhane, who carried on in pretty much the same way, cleaning up Eames (D) and effecting the dismissal of Cooper with the help of Bobby's catch in the covers. His dismissal of Gracie, with the score at 90-5 actually had Larry on a hat-trick which he came agonisingly close to pulling off. Boss replaced Cooksley and Bobby was in on the act again, this time plucking a pull from a rank full-toss from Gripper out of the air one-handed. Cynics commenting that both these chances were held because they were heading straight for his car otherwise! Gripper and a returning Hamish wrapped up the lower middle-order before a handy tenth wicket partnership swung its way up to 130, number 11 Enever producing a few hearty blows at the end. Beechwood bowled well as a unit and special praise should go to Colin who was having the proverbial 'mare early on but typically never hid and emerged a hero to his bowlers. Tea.
A rather innings-rusty Beechwood X1 would have to chase the score down and this was further exacerbated by skipper Tony's surprise decision to drop himself down the order. Today was to be the day for others to step up to the plate. Makin had a new opening partner this week in Hamish but only 16 runs were on the board when KHM played a loose shot and was caught on the on-side. Warner, next in, firmly drove back past bowler Enever who flung out a hand, parried, and successfully clung on at the second attempt to dismiss the luckless Adrian without scoring. 16-2 then and time now for the rest of us to REALLY step up to the plate. Salmon was next in and a tight-hamstringed Hamish won't have batted with Eggy too often, if at all, but he now knows all about it as Glenn predictably injected a bit of purpose into the innings. Hamish was going nicely anyway, putting anything shortish away for boundaries but with Glenn there, no single opportunities were going to be missed...or twos and threes!! These two were going nicely, even if one was spluttering considerably more than the other, and got Beechwood up to 84 before an unfortunate misunderstanding led to Eggy being run out...19 runs may not sound huge but this was a vital partnership which gave Beechwood some breathing space and Glenn had played a full part in it.
New bat Robinson joined Hamish at the wicket and Hamish soon completed his maiden fifty for Beechwood, a fine effort and a perfect example of stepping up to the plate. Robbo; well his day just got better and better, and we were all treated to his full repertoire, including the "Helicopter" as he swung his way to an undefeated 20 runs. Hamish was also undefeated for his 66 and Beechwood got home with an unlikely eleven or so overs remaining and not requiring the skipper either! A spirited effort by what was a very makeshift Tatsfield side shouldn't be overlooked and one trusts that they will look somewhat different when we next meet.
Tatsfield proved to be a very sociable crowd afterwards and we thank them once again for their hospitality. Well played Beechwood, and thanks again to Lee and Larry for helping us out at such short notice...if we call on you again, be warned, we may have our skipper back so don't expect too many victories in future!... Just joking, Brad! Oh and Hamish... hope the ride home was without drama!
Beechwood:
Bates, Boss, Cooksley, Culhane, Freeman (c), Makin (wk), McLachlan, Robinson, Salmon, Savory, Warner
Final word from the DoC:
Twas nice to sit back and watch a victory unfold as a mere player this week! Well done to all the bowlers, who were superb. |
