The wagon rolls on to Otford; a cloudy but calm Bank Holiday Sunday setting for our hosting of Buckhurst CC. Another home fixture of course means another tea prepared by one of ourselves, and this week it was the turn of KHM. We'll get to the cricket, but while I can't claim to be a "Chris Kelly", you'll forgive me if the occasional food and drink reference makes an appearance this week.
A hesitant Captain Tony, having won toss, went for the old adage of "if in doubt, bat" - something that's not usually too much of a gamble when it comes to Otford. It was harder going than your usual Otford day out initially though, and openers Tony and Tariq really had to work hard for their runs. Tariq departed the scene having scored just a solitary run in 34 balls, just to highlight how tough it really was out there. It was around about this time that Carole thought it would be fun to liven things up a little by doing one of her "stumbling without spilling a drop" routines. Larry, having not witnessed one of these routines, was initially concerned but most people went about their business as usual. However when she still hadn't stirred after a few moments, Keith thought he'd be the good Samaritan by offering to relieve husband Stuart, by now performing a stint of umpiring, giving him a chance to tend to his floored missus. Stuart though, is very conscientious about his umpiring - he's in charge of the coats after all - and ferociously gesticulated to Keith, ordering him to leave the field of play until the end over. Having eventually checked her out and confirming she was okay, he was back out there umpiring, our Stuart, having missed just the one over. Bliss! By the way, Larry; the tour is only ten or so weeks away...this a scene you're going to have to get used to!!
Adrian had joined Tony by now, but runs were still hard to come by and when the skipper nicked one behind, Beechwood had limped along to 26-2 after 16 overs. Bradley joined Adrian in the middle and these two set about upping the tempo of the innings, Adrian as the rudder and Brad as the aggressor. Things were going well, and a mini recovery had got the score into the eighties, but after the drinks break both batsmen were quickly undone by different Axtell brothers. An undercooked Dean didn't last long...hopefully when he returns, a decent run in the side will lead to the return of the form from a couple of seasons back, so Keith set about trying to stay with guest Mark Baker for another re-building job. Surviving a chance, Bakes stroked the ball nicely and Keith accompanied him until he was removed by the returning Scott with the score on 140, umpire French raising the finger. 140-6 immediately became 140-7 when I found myself sat back down next to Ron before he'd finished writing my name down - not the first time this has occurred at Otford, but luckily the DoC was able to hang on in there with Bakes until he was out off the very last ball of the innings with Mark left undefeated on 47 and Beechwood closing their innings on 161-8, a modest total for Otford but one we'd settle for considering early conditions.
Tea, and food critique time...Keith certainly made the effort this year and he came up trumps when it came to cakes and suchlike but I must admit I had a few early doubts when I saw him unloading wrappers bearing the "Mother's Pride" logo from his car. Sure enough the bread wasn't quite in date and with no toaster on hand, the duck a l'orange pate went unused unfortunately. 400g of cheddar and eight - yes, eight tins of tuna would no doubt have provided sufficient variety for Tom And Jerry, but two cricket teams??...Unlikely. Luckily Carole and Lou weren't sloshed enough yet to be able to drive into town to pick up a few things to augment what was already on offer. I also thought Keith highly inventive if a trifle cheeky when he produced a tub of pancake-mix with perhaps a view to the ladies having time to prepare said pancakes for tea alongside everything else they had to do. I needn't have worried though as the "pancake-mix" in fact turned out to be Keith's attempt at egg mayonnaise. Now I'm certainly no expert but it was obvious that he'd used insufficient yolks to produce the lecithin which emulsifies the oil...schoolboy home-economics really!
Back to the cricket, and Larry and Tariq opened Beechwood's bowling and didn't allow Buckhurst's openers to get away. Larry was particularly impressive and should not feel too down-hearted about ending up wicket-less on the day. I was introduced into the attack and with the help of Adrian's telescopic arms at mid-off managed to prize out both openers. Stuart was introduced after Larry's spell and bowled beautifully, giving nothing away and the Buckhurst innings was stagnating a little, especially after Brad effected a run-out and Keith pulling off a stumping of the DoC, who was also bowling well. Bakes came on for me and all was in hand until the dangerous Roy Axtell and Sayers got together. these two got some momentum into Buckhurst's innings and although I held a return catch from Axtell upon re-introduction and Adrian effected another run-out, Sayers still looked capable of smiting Buckhurst home. A couple of stumping appeals were somewhat dubiously overturned and although Tony probably hadn't envisaged having two leggies bowling at the death he kept the faith in us and although it looked a bit precarious at times, me and the DoC held our nerves, picking up a wicket apiece courtesy of KHM's stumpings and Buckhurst just pulled up short on 157-8 with Sayers not out 31.
A few acknowledgements to finish: Tony for getting everybody involved, Matthew for officiating, particularly during our innings where he stood at both ends, Lou and Carole for their aforementioned shopping errand, Keith, in spite of my comments, for his efforts with regard to tea-duty and the biggest thanks of all to Lyn and Tina who managed to salvage something from their "Ready Steady Cook" episode... well done ladies. Also well done to Stuart for keeping hold of his wallet this week; Carole being far too skanked to drive home early!! Oh, and yes, I did win the biscuits again...
Let's hope there's enough of us for Southborough...
Beechwood:
Baker, Boss, Cooksley, Culhane, Freeman (c), Hill, Kelly, Makin (w), Savory, Sheikh, Warner
Final word from the DoC:
Yet another nail-biter involving Buckhurst and ourselves. Well done to people for not making more of some "questionable" decisions at the time. It made sure the game went on in good spirit and made for an exiting match.
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