After
2 heavy defeats, the Whalers bandwagon rolled into the leafy surroundings of
Richmond Green. As usual there, the sun was shining, the pitch looked lively,
the opposition were tucking into the beers, and the outfield was carpeted with
a capacity crowd of half-naked sunbathers. Ads won the toss and, for what felt
like the first time in several years, the Whalers chose to field first.
The
Cricketers got off to a slow start but were looking relatively comfortable until
James bowled one of the openers. Accurate bowling from Mike Dennis and Piers
kept the pressure on, with Piers picking up two more wickets by the drinks
break. Things then slipped away a bit, with the batters starting to get their
eye in, the fast and bumpy outfield meaning that anything past the fielders
(or, in some cases, directly to the fielders) went for 4, and a few
catches going down. Piers eventually got the breakthrough on his return, with
the age-old tactic of hitting the batsman in the face with one that looped up
off a length, and then bowling him next ball. Rich got the rewards for his
spell with another wicket, but this only brought the Cricketers no7 to the
crease. With a display of ferocious hitting which had the picnickers on the
boundary scrambling for cover, he hit 36 in about 10 balls before finally
missing a straight one. Dan and James picked up another wicket each and the
Cricketers closed on 196 for 8 from 35 overs – which
looked a tough ask given our record at the ground.
In
reply, aggressive batting from Al (sporting a very fetching John McEnroe-esque towelling headband) and
steady stuff from Dario at the other end (insert your own Tavare/Boycott/VDP
joke here) got the Whalers off to a good start. The cause was helped by two of
the Cricketers having to go home for their tea, which meant there were plenty
of gaps in the field. When Al was out for 54, Mike continued the scoring with a
quick 30, followed by Ads with an unbeaten 26. Despite regular appeals our
progress was quite untroubled - and in case any future opposition are reading
this, we showed that we'd gained from the
As
the Whalers approached their target, the only remaining questions were whether
Dario could reach his maiden Whalers 50 (off 30 overs)
and whether Clippy would wake up in time to see it.
The answer to both questions was yes, as the winning shot disappeared for 4 (or
so the scorebook says). Job done, Oz disappeared with Ed's kitbag and the Whalers
retreated to the upstairs bar, where we demolished the largest tea of the
season and tried to stop Rich from falling out of the window, before joining
the lovely ladies from
The
stats:
Cricketers – 196 for 8 from 35 overs
(Piers 3-42, James 2-33, Dan 2-37)
Whalers
– 200 for 2 from 30ish overs (Al 54, Dario 50*, Mike 30, Ads 26*)
Man of the match: Al
Champagne: Dario reaching his 50
Muppet: Mike dropping a sitter