Late September is upon us and that means we're about due for our annual cricket lesson from Wadhurst CC. Upon arrival it's a case of "Sons Of Beechwood" time again as a ridiculously youthful set of guys are warming-up before our eyes... luckily, this is an easy outfield to field on so that should level things up a bit! Anyway, Captain Hill lost the toss and was asked to have a bowl, a 40-over game was agreed upon but this one had a twist - no bowling limits, so it led you to believe that they were either wary of our bowling attack (unlikely, considering last years carnage) or they were uncertain about their own. Either way, it was apparent that they fancied a win, and it caused a few Beechwood bowlers to look around to see how many others were available to carry them through the carnage, especially when a certain Mr Everdell (scorer of Christ-knows how many last year) strode out to open the Wadhurst innings.
It was a reasonably sedate start though, with McLachlan and especially Woodward beating the outside-edge on a number of occasions and when the score had reached 12, opener Metcalfe sliced to backward-point and was held by Savory off Woody, who soon trapped Altree to leave Wadhurst 24-2. Everdell was starting to find his range now though, and having seen off Hamish and plundering 24 from a lone Culhane over, six of which caused some concern among the fielders when it landed bouncing-bomb-like on several of their cars' roofs, it was decided that spin might be a better option to check his scoring (oh great!) and Savory and Patel were given the call, and... it actually worked. Savory bowled Woodruffe, who'd scored just four in a partnership of 48, but Dodgy bagged the big'un, having Everdell (58) adjudged to be lbw...well it definitely hit his leg... and this was a bonus wicket to say the least with all but Dodgy himself saying so - "It was plumb!" - I'd like to see you on the receiving end of that one Dodge, perhaps with say, Keith raising the finger!...
Anyway, 72-4 and two more quick wickets left Wadhurst apparently tottering at 82-6. New batsman, Knight, accompanied by Holland set about counter-attacking Beechwood and literally swung their way to recovery. Knight, in particular, was a tempting target, showing all three stumps to the bowlers but Beechwood didn't hit 'em and when he decided to hit you it stayed hit. Three balls later (that's balls as in replacements for lost ones, not deliveries!) Savory bowled Holland to leave Wadhurst 120-7 but despite an uncomfortable looking scoreline Knight was still gonna have a swing when he fancied one and by now Beechwood were suffering one of their familiar "chokes" and letting the opposition off the hook. We seem unable to deal with this T20 style of batting that we've encountered a fair bit of lately, and although Bradley was inventive and regularly switched the bowling around, the ground-fielding became less enthusiastic (and occasionally statuesque) and chances behind the stumps were also missed with the bowlers seemingly powerless to stop the flow of runs. The score raced along to 167 before Brad recalled Woody for a final throw of the dice and almost immediately induced an edge from Knight (51) which was smartly grasped by Makin. The tail sensibly took whatever runs they could before Woody cleaned up to finish with impressive figures of 5-20, ultra-impressive when you consider those of his team-mates...
For the record Beechwood were once again on the receiving end of a lopsided looking scorecard, having bowled out an opposition in 33 overs but conceding 190 runs along the way. (Anybody remember Groombridge?) Personally, I always think that if a team are 80 or so for six, you've got 'em for the taking, so you have to take your hat off to a team that can recover from that sort of position... Even more personally, as what you may loosely term as a bowler, I'm not enjoying these T20 fuelled youngsters launching me out of the park... any chance of a game against some good ol' Affertons rather than these eager young Afridis?!...(Just get on with it, I can hear Woody protesting) Tea and sofas...and sympathy...
Beechwood set about their efforts in chasing down the Wadhurst total in the manner you'd expect - both Freeman and Makin taking the runs where possible with no unnecessary expanse, and this was going swimmingly before Keith had his stumps demolished by Boorman with the score on 20. A lengthy stay at the crease from new bat Warner would have been welcome, but Adrian chased a wide one and was caught at extra-cover; a shot he probably wouldn't have played in different circumstances, and Beechwood's precarious position was exacerbated by Tony, attempting his favourite shot, pulling tamely to mid-wicket. 52-3 then, and new batsmen McLachlan and Hill representing what seemed like Beechwood's last real hope of nearing their total. Both initially cautious, it was Hamish who played the anchor role while Bradley looked to try and keep us somewhere close to the run-rate. The latterly introduced Everdell got a taste of his own medicine when the first five deliveries of his spell were clubbed to the ropes by Brad. This pair had got us up to 118 when Brad (43) was yorked by Penny.
This allowed Robinson to join Hamish in the middle, and if I tell you that Colin's innings lasted for half an hour, you'll know just how much entertainment he provided us with, highlights of which included some eccentric calling and running (the locals thought he was shouting "Senegal") and an over-the-slips top-edged six of which he signalled to the scorer himself. Another highlight would have been seeing the look on Hamish's face while all this was going on as I know how much he enjoys having a batting partner in Colin, so much so that plans are afoot to keep these two together in the batting order. Joking aside, these two put on fifty runs and when Colin was eventually bowled for 26 Beechwood were still in with a sniff of a remarkable victory. Savory joined Hamish with the score 169-5 and three overs remaining and these two just about stayed with the rate, mainly thanks to some "Carry On Cricket" style fielding and backing-up from a Wadhurst team who were just starting to panic a little. Into the last over, and 12 runs would see Beechwood home and after seven were taken off the first three balls, Savory couldn't lay a bat on the next two, the last of which saw him run out in an effort to get Hamish back on strike, all of which meant the unfortunate Cooksley had to go out and hit the last ball for four to force a tie. A similar situation saw him rise to the challenge against Pilots a few weeks back but this time with fewer balls available he was only able to score two runs from the last ball leaving Beechwood an agonizing three runs short of a famous victory which would have been a third on the trot for the previously winless Brad. Hamish, our batting backbone of late, finished up unbeaten on 38 and Beechwood were left to rue not seizing the initiative in the first innings.
This had been a thoroughly enjoyable game, in spite of my earlier rant, and certainly an improved performance on our last couple of visits down here, and we all look forward to returning next season. Many thanks to the Bosses for interrupting their day at the coast to pop in and support us, and a great day was rounded off by yours truly winning the biscuits in the raffle again... Is it food?!
Beechwood:
Cooksley, Culhane, Freeman, Hill (c), Makin (wk), McLachlan, Robinson, Patel, Savory, Warner, Woodward
Final word from the DoC:
If only we could have finished the job at 82 for 6, but ifs and ands and pots and pans.... |
