Otford
18th July, 2010
Both Saturday teams had been victorious, and the drink had flowed late into the night at The George. Surely we couldn’t do the treble? The best results the Sunday captain had achieved so far in the season were draws – the only win had been guest-skippered by his illustrious predecessor, Sean Bromfield.
For once, the whole team arrived on time for the 2 o’clock kick- off. But where were the oppo? Had our old rivals bottled it? The two fixture secretaries would later dispute the discrepancy. So it was that after more than an hour in the sweltering sun, the cruel skipper sent in his attack, having won the toss.
Both openers bowled tightly, which was just as well considering the state of both the outfield and the fielders. Ed toiled with a bleeding foot without reward, bowling his 7 overs for only 25 runs. Russell seemed to amaze himself by bowling opening batsman N Leach and conceding only 21 runs in his 7 overs. Greg put in probably his best ever bowling performance, taking 2 wickets – including clean-bowling danger man Grove on 2. His 5 overs cost a miserly 15 runs – most of them coming from his last, exhausted over. But surely the pick of the bowlers was first-change Alex Mazzon, whose figures read 7 overs, 2 maidens, 2 for 13.
With time and wickets running out for Otford in their 35 over innings, it was looking like a walkover was on the cards, so Shoreham’s skipper sportingly decided to spread the bowling around. The effect was predictable, and Otford accelerated to finish on 152 for 7 at tea.
In order to preserve some of his more valuable batsmen, skipper Barrett bravely took to the field with a broken big-toe, a relic from a vicious yorker 2 weeks previously. His history of duck making is, of course, legendary, but so far the Diamond Duck had eluded him. No longer.
He was replaced by Bharat, Walker, Kumar and Brooks who between them managed to advance the score by a whopping 5 runs. Russell even had the decency to get a Golden Duck in order to share the skipper’s embarrassment.
The Chairman and other luminaries looked on in horror as the drama unfolded. They could not understand the high spirits which the team continued to demonstrate. The pile of empty lager cans should have been a clue.
Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man, and while everyone around him was losing theirs, opener Mark Richardson was steadily accumulating runs and clichés from the onlookers. A useful partnership with the plucky Joel Hewett put us back in the hunt. Joel departed on 20, bringing man of the day Greg Taylor to the crease. With plenty of overs and daylight to spare Mark and Greg smashed their way to victory, every blow cheered by the increasingly enthusiastic pavilion. Both finished not out on 76 and 30 respectively.
So to The Crown to celebrate what had looked like an unlikely treble and to laud the day’s heroes. Dan serenaded us on the cello and we clapped each other jovially on the back.
And the Man of the Day? Well, sadly Blythe missed both Greg’s bowling and batting performances. When informed by text, she replied: “Damn, I wish I’d left earlier!”
- Pat