The first match report is by skipper Tony Freeman, but Brasted Invicta have also produced a report of this extraordinary game.
Click here to read Brasted's side of the story
Makin' him bat!
With Chris injured from last week and having a wander up them hills at Otford it is down to me again to write this week’s match report.
Having won the toss the Brasted Invicta Skipper had a little think about the pitch condition and then correctly decided to field first. We had had a heavy downpour in the early hours of the morning and, whilst the Otford ground looked in pretty good condition, the effects of that deluge would surely benefit the team who fielded first.
Woody and Adrian opened up this week and, with the bounce and pace off the pitch proving difficult to read, both openers failed to make any positive contribution.
Meanwhile Keith arrived on the scene for what we thought would be Umpiring duties for the rest of the day but, once he found out that Brasted were ‘one short’ he departed immediately in order to go off home and collect his Whites! Unfit to play for Beechwood but fit to play for Brasted, must be a strange injury that Jim has!
Anyway, Rob and Brad took over the mantle and reliable Rob (23) did a steady job and held an end up whilst, it was hoped, that Brad would hit our way to a decent score; not to be and Brad went for 4.
Colin then came to the crease and got the momentum back in the innings, come to think of it, there was never any momentum before he arrived! Anyway, Colin pulled his way to 13 when, all of a sudden he decided to play a shot on the off side! Although his shot was heading for young Cheese, we were not expecting him to hold on to the chance which, I must say, was taken with aplomb. Young Cheese was then mobbed by his team mates in congratulations and quite rightly so, a fine catch.
Hamish continued with his excellent form after Rob had fallen and hit a superb 44 whilst I, again, failed with a dismal 9. Something will be done about this wretched form. Steve struggled like the rest of us and it was left to Ian and Boris to take us up to 125 for 8 at tea.
Pick of the Brasted bowlers were Copley, 4/17 and new player Ennis, 2/23 whilst Cheese was as difficult to play as he always is for us Beechwood boys!
Tea; what another excellent fare this was so my thanks to Brad for sorting out such a splendid spread at fairly short notice and for both Lyn and Carole in putting out the teas and clearing away afterwards; we are really lucky to have you girls so a very big thank you from us all. Tina, you are included in this!
Brasted set off with The Don and Wilson and an untroubled start to the innings was made, that was until The Don received a ‘lifter’ from Rob which was comfortably taken at slip by me; first catch of the season! Apart from the odd ball such as The Don received, the pitch seemed to be playing better and both Wilson and Lea took the score nicely along without any alarms and at a good pace.
Ian had completed his opening spell which, unfortunately, was not at all similar to last weeks and runs fairly flew from his end. Hamish replaced Ian but also had no luck so Brad was introduced but without any real threat being caused to the Brasted batsmen.
Whilst Brasted were going along nicely, Keith decided that, with a victory imminent, he might as well get changed and come out and umpire the remaining few overs!
With the cause being lost, well nearly, I asked Woody if he could bowl me a couple of overs in an effort to make a breakthrough after Rob had been rested. Having his first ball smashed for 6 to deep mid-wicket did not look like much difference would be made but, after Woody settled into his stride Wilson attempted to hit the last ball of Woody’s first over for another almighty 6 but, this time, Hamish took a good catch 10 yards in from the boundary; were the doors being opened to Brasted’s middle order at 84 for 2? Anyway, our tails were up so we were going to make a fight of it.
Brad was taken off at the Cow End, (no cow fighting this week!) and in one last effort to make something happen, Rob was brought back on. Inexplicably, Young, who looked in complete control of the situation then hit the ball straight to Ade at Mid off and set off for a quick single. Now whilst Ade’s throw is not very good these days, to take him on when he was less than 10 yards from the non-strikers end was a little bemusing and, as Ade made a direct hit, the batsman was heard cursing his own judgement and continued on his way to the pavilion! 109 for 3. The door was now starting to widen with Big Cheese coming in to bat; if we could get him and Lea out then we might be in business and, sure enough, Lea was caught at 2nd slip by Brad off Rob from the Cow End and then Cheese was gobbled up by Lee taking a sharp one handed catch behind the wicket off Woody who was, by now, ‘on fire’!
Keith, at this time was still umpiring when an urgent call came for him to leave the field, get changed and get those pads on dam quick! Mission accomplished! Now on to victory, we hoped.
Amazingly, batsmen came and went at a rapid pace and, before you knew it; old Makin was walking out to the crease! Could he be the saviour of Brasted who were now 114 for 8?
Carter was then out LBW to Rob Pogose which left Brasted teetering on 114 for 9 with Young Cheese on his way out to accompany Keith. Was victory or the draw now being sought as overs were starting to run out? Young Cheese did a grand job whilst being admirably supported by Makin and was overheard saying to his senior partner during a mid-wicket chat at the end of an over that he was “enjoying this”, good for him.
With 10 balls remaining Woody finally bowled Young Cheese’s valiant effort to hold out for a draw and, bizarrely, Beechwood had won by 10 runs! 8 wickets had fallen for only 6 runs!
The Brasted players were distraught whilst we were cock-a-hoop on this dramatic turn around of fortune but, whatever the result, it must be said that, as always, we have excellent matches with Brasted that are played in the true spirit of the game.
Now over to Steve for his DoC Final Word on the game.
Beechwood:
Boss, Cooksley, Freeman (c), Hill, McCrea, McLachlan, Morton (wk), Pogose, Robinson, Warner, Woodward
Final words from the DoC:
Never mind about Keith getting changed to go to the pub early, I was going to join him! Great comeback, and I'm already looking forward to what Beechwood v Brasted 2010 throws at us!
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Brasted Invicta recorded their most agonizing defeat in recent memory, appearing in control for a vast majority of the game before slumping to a (some would say) humiliating defeat against a resurgent Beechwood side.
Following on from the thrashing by Linton Park and two cancelled games due to lack of players, the weakened Brasted team sheet promised an encouraging mix of experienced talent and youthful exuberance. Arriving at the ground we discovered not only that we had escaped the forecasted rain to be left in glorious sunshine, but also that the team had been strengthened further by the unavailability of Fishers. On the advice of his much better half (Jacqui not Coppers), the skipper called ‘tails’ and miraculously won the toss, deciding that Beechwood could have a bat first.
The new ball was handed to Stuart Young who began tentatively, offering the batsmen little for concern. The opposite could be said for the other opening bowler, Mark Copley, who from the off was bowling with pace and aggression, getting some lift and movement from a very green pitch. He was quickly rewarded with the removal of opener Woodward(0), with Michael Lea snaffling the straight-forward catch at point. Spurred on by his colleague’s success, Young began to bowl quicker, straighter and more aggressively, frequently beating the outside edge with some lovely away-swing. Unfortunately there was to be no reward for some good bowling, Young finishing with figures of 10-3-26-0, although he only has himself to blame for dropping a difficult chance off his own bowling. Copley continued to frustrate the other end and was further rewarded with two more wickets. Copley’s second involved some controversy when Hill (who had taken a nasty blow to the head the over before) drove a low catch to Bishop which he just managed to get his fingers under. The batsman refused to walk (perhaps still slightly confused due to head injury) and only left the field after the ever honest Bishop informed him he had definitely caught it. The third wicket removed the danger man Warner(8), with relative new boy, Ryan Ennis, taking a difficult catch at mid-wicket.
Half-way through the Beechwood innings they were 44 for 3 and looking like they might struggle to get to 100. However the arrival of MacLachan(44) brought better fortunes for Beechwood as he steadied the innings and pushed along the run rate with some solid back foot play (aided by some attempted slow bouncers from Copley which were dispatched to the boundary, although I was informed by Copley that his captain instructed him to bowl in this way). Copley’s reward for doing as he was told was to be taken off and replaced by the skipper who then continued to bowl half-trackers, although I believe these ones were accidental. A rare good ball from Bishop found the batsman’s edge which then proceeded to be dropped by Keith Cheese at second slip. Keith’s embarrassment was further compounded when another short one from Bishop was skied by the same batsmen a couple of balls later and nonchalantly plucked from the air by George Cheese in his second appearance for the club and I can honestly say that it was a catch that few regular team members would have taken, least of all his dad.
Bishop’s lousy bowling was soon replaced with some tight off-spin from Ennis and he was quickly rewarded with his first wicket for the club. Insults about Keith’s catching prowess were firmly put to the sword when, fielding at backward square leg, the batsman hooked one a short one from Ennis off his nose, only to be met by a salmonesque Keith leaping gracefully at least six inches into the air to pouch the tough chance.
Copley was brought back on for the last couple of overs and eventually removed MacLachan LBW finishing with well deserved figures of 12-7-17-4. Keith Cheese had been holding up the other end like only Keith can do and also picked up a deserved wicket with a sharp stumping having tempted the batsman from his crease. Beechwood ended with a hard fought 125 for 8.
All-in-all it was a great team performance in the field with some tight bowling, solid fielding and for once we held (most of) our catches. A jubilant Brasted team (lacking Paul “The Glutton” Guiney) barely managed to dent the impressively varied tea and before we could spout too many clichés (i.e. get your head down, play yourself in etc), we were back out to bat.
In retrospect it may have been a mistake for the only 5 recognized batsmen in the team to have been put at positions 1-5, but as they say hindsight is a wonderful thing, and no-one is assigning blame anyway (well at least not to the skipper).
The innings started with Brasted opening stalwarts Payne and Wilson playing themselves in against some tight bowling. Listening to Keith Cheese’s advice, who insisted 2 and a half per over would be fine (although that would have required an unlikely 50 overs to be bowled), the openers knocked the ball into the gaps and took odd singles before Payne punished a couple of short balls for 4. Payne’s innings was ended when an uppish ball from Pegose caught the edge and he was back in the pavilion for 9. That brought the up-and-coming youngster Lea to the crease and he immediately got on with the task at hand with some solid defensive work as well as some aggressive punishment of anything short. At the other end Wilson had his eye in and, for the first time this season, was actually hitting some boundaries. Well in front of the run rate, Wilson’s aggression got the better of him, and going for a third maximum was caught on the boundary. Still, Brasted were 84 for 2 with 18 overs remaining and looking like it would be a comfortable stroll to the finishing post.
Wilson’s departure brought in Stuart “Broady” Young a man capable of putting fear into any opponent with his aggressive batting. Lea and Young kept the score ticking along to 109 until a moment of madness saw Young firmly drive to mid-off and then immediately set off for a run. The ball was in the fielder’s hands before Young was halfway down the wicket and a good piece of fielding saw him run out with a direct hit. Still, 109 for 3, Lea and K Cheese out in the middle, 17 runs needed with plenty of overs to spare – confidence was still high.
Beechwood made the decision to bring back the opener Pegose to pressurize the long Brasted tail. And with quickies at both ends, it was a tactic that worked amazingly well. Some tight bowling saw the loss of the last 2 ‘proper’ batsmen, Lea(29) and K Cheese(1).
Finding the words to describe what happened next has proved too difficult for someone with my limited intellect. Suffice to say, seven wickets fell for only six runs, and Brasted fell an agonising 10 runs short, a truly astonishing collapse that only Brasted at our worst could have orchestrated.
However, collapse aside, Brasted spent three quarters of the game in complete control and Beechwood only did to us what we have done to them in the past. And, despite the loss, I have no doubt that this game will be one of the most enjoyable I participate in all year.
In the end, I think we can all agree that cricket was the real winner (…oh and Beechwood, because they won). |
