2nd's vs Botany Bay III - Saturday 2nd June 2012

On Saturday the 2nd XI welcomed Botany Bay 3rd XI to a damp and overcast Widford. There was quite a lot of grass on the pitch and it looked as though the dampness was all on the surface. All that was needed was for the wind to maintain its ample velocity and for the sun to battle its way through the clouds.

After losing the toss we were correctly instructed to bat. I opened with the Colonel and we both managed to stick around on a pitch that did surprisingly little as it proceeded to dry. Botany Bay’s opening bowlers were young and full of energy with special note going to Anderson who was the pick of their attack. It was not until the 32nd over (and third attempt) that one of their fielders finally held the catch that sent me back to the pavilion. I had made 40 and together with Tommy the opening partnership was 106. Tom stuck around with brief company from Ellaway and Orton until he met his end having made 63. The promise of a late surge as demonstrated in last week’s match did not materialise resulting in a disappointing batting collapse. We were all out for 154 in the 46th over.

The sun came out as tea was taken.

We entered the field hoping that our total was good enough to defend and frustrated that we hadn’t batted our allotted overs. Simon and Garry opened our attack and initially it looked as though Botany Bay were above the run rate. After a couple of overs the bowlers tightened their hold and scoring runs became more difficult. What followed was a mixed bag. On one hand, there were a number of catches that were either not held or approached by an un-committed fielder. On the other hand we all looked on in awe at two amazing direct hit run outs one by Stick and the other by Bodders. Sam Tilbey bowled his allocated overs very well but struggled to get his radar on target frequently pushing the ball down leg (7 overs, 0 maidens, 33 runs & 2 wickets). When he aimed at the stumps or encouraged the batter to drive he was at his most dangerous and this was how he took his two wickets. The first was a pleasing catch taken by myself at first slip and the second an unplayable Yorker that left the batter in a knot. Garry proceeded to tie up the other end and continued to make scoring difficult by maintaining a good line and length (22 overs, 5 maidens, 64 runs & 3 wickets). Simon’s performance with the ball was equally as frustrating to the batters (16 overs, 1 maiden, 52 runs & 2 wickets).

As we entered the final 10 overs the balance of the game had swung in our favour. However, there then came a flourish of bottom hand shots from two batters who changed the nature of the contest. We managed to get their wickets which swung the momentum back in our favour with 2 overs remaining. Garry had the final over and their numbers 10 and 11 needed 5 to win, it was clear that their intention was to do it in singles. Dot, single, single, single, single and 1 bye. They didn’t win – we lost.

G Unwin 4th June 2012