The scoreboard made unhappy reading for the local villagers about half an hour after tea on Sunday. Remnants of strawberry sponge cake were still being lovingly wiped from mouths as Shoreham lost their sixth wicket for a meagre 19 runs. 4 ducks had already been amassed (including one from Golden Greg), and the prospect of an extended pub session was looking increasingly likely. Had Pat’s 100% winning record (1 out of 1) reached a painfully abrupt conclusion?

Earlier that afternoon Acme had acquired 220 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, thanks mainly to their opening partnership of 104 between M Johnson (51) and A Hoskin (91n/o). The short boundary had made it a frustrating day for all the bowlers. J Trick (9-50-1) and E Walker (11-65-2) toiled away in the sun for little reward. They were replaced by P Edge (5-32-0) and N Walker (6-35-0), and both
bowled tidily. J Rivett (5-25-1) had a good spell also. Relatively few pies were chucked across the course of the afternoon, although Acme did end up with 10 runs more than a run-a-ball.

The highlight of our fielding performance was Jack’s run-out of M Bowden off Ed’s bowling: After Jack had executed a flawless pick-up-and-throw straight into Ed’s hands (who was standing by the stumps), Ed was about to walk back to bowl before James kindly reminded him that the ball actually had to hit the stumps for it to be a run-out…

Oh how no-one could have expected the drama that was to follow. A mere 9 overs after tea, Shoreham’s sixth wicket to go was that of opener A Haysler (10) who had been the anchor of our brief innings as the wicket’s fell around him. Acme’s opening bowler, Williamson (5-21-5), had caught many of Shoreham’s top order unawares with his exceptional use of the sloping wicket to cut the ball back into them. Many excuses were banded around by those crestfallen batsmen on their way back to the pavilion; my favourite of which was putting sole blame for their misfortune on the bowling machine used before they went out!

Shoreham’s no.8 batsman was Jack Rivett, a polite young boy from the village. However, upon handling his mighty, if a little knackered, bit of ‘willow’ he calls a cricket bat, this boy transforms into a 6 hitting ball cruncher who goes by the name of… Jackson. Every boundary was greeted with strange honking sounds from his fervent supporters in the stands, which apparently served to egg the Jackson on to further swipes of his blade. Aided at the other end by J Trick (15), the pair shared a vital partnership of 59 to hoist the Shoreham score up into the dizzying realms of respectability (78). After James departed, word got round that the Jackson had a younger brother who was going out to meet him at the crease and join in his brother’s exploits. Some say he was a qualified optician by the age of 16. All we know is… he’s called Georgeson! Alas, fate had decided that this brotherly partnership was not to last long as Georgeson was outwitted, bringing Shoreham’s Duck Tally up to the recommended five a day.

E Walker came into bat at no.10, and watched in awe as the great Jackson went for his 9th boundary – but this time was deceived. He returned to the pavilion to rapturous applause, 1 run shy of his first fifty. Next time Jackson, next time… Replacing Jackson was the Shoreham team’s most experienced very senior player, and highly respected, Mr C Brown. With 18 overs left to play, 128 runs to win, and one wicket remaining, an early visit to the pub seemed like a formality. However, Shoreham’s final batting pair proceeded to swing at whatever they could and, before they knew it, had begun a nice little partnership of their own, despite the squabbling about not wanting to run singles. The overs passed and suddenly Umpire Raymond was telling them that they only had to face out so many balls and they could get the most unlikely of draws. And so it went. Acme threw everything they had at the pair in desperation, but to no avail. Ed continued to thrash everything onto his favoured leg side, and, to counteract, Brownie chose to play switch batted for half the time – teasing his nemesis, M Bowden. And the rest is history. Brownie finished the game on 22n/o, and Ed saw out the last over to end on 30n/o. The pair shared a 10th wicket partnership of 71 runs to draw the game and keep Pat’s undefeated record going.

Man of the Match: Jackson.

- Ed

Posted on Thursday, 30th April, 2009 in Friendly Match Reports.