Sat 23 May – 2nd XI v Otford II
25th May, 2009Infamy, infamy etc…
History reliably recalls that it was 1872 when a Shoreham umpire last gave two lbw decisions against his own team, dead plumb or not. Who now carries this burden of shame? Read on.
On a scraping-the-barrel kind of weekend, deprived of the services of many of our regulars and of all our dilettante starlets, it was an unfamiliar XI that took the field. Alongside a clutch of regulars, there were the timeless Mick Johnson, the ageless Bob Shapter, the priceless Tim Martin and the beardless David (Son Of Hack), aged 11.
David is a fine asset to us. (I’m sure that I didn’t write this, but every child knows how to word process now).
Anyway, we fielded first and time passed agreeably as Otford’s early batsmen piled on the runs. Pyman scored 94, Paige 12, Bishop 45, and Jeffers 96. After this quartet were gone, we took another four wickets cheaply, and so we claimed some bowling points whilst conceding a total of 304.
Brad was the pick of the bowlers, going for only 5.4 an over and taking two wickets. Bob Shapter and Alex Haysler also took two wickets apiece, and Bob Sims took one.
The eighth wicket was a run out. When Otford’s number 7 tripped and sprawled mid wicket, Mick Johnson’s first, gentlemanly instinct was to go and help him up, but he was reminded from all corners of the field that this is the cut and thrust of the Kent Village League, and – almost apologetically – he removed the bails.
Mick opened our innings with Nick Walker. Unfortunately Nick was out for only 9 and so had plenty of time to umpire. Mick went on to provide the core of our innings until he was seventh out for 90 with the score on 170. Could the tail wag sufficiently to capture another batting point? Indeed it could, with Jon Beard and Bob Sims each scoring exhilarating 24s. The ninth wicket fell with just one ball remaining, so David faced his first ball of competitive cricket, and survived, to deny Otford their final bowling point.
We fell 84 short of Otford’s total, but the 220 that we scored means that the second’s average score for the first three games is over 200, which is in marked contrast to the 40 odd that we managed on our first outing two seasons ago.
Wyn