For the last match of the season we gathered under stormy skies on Sunday to play the Moose. The key issue for the day, apart from working out how to buy a drink at the Bull later, was deciding what format of game was to be played. It is worth bearing in mind that there was universal agreement amongst the weather forecasting community that it would start to piss down from 4ish and not stop.
Ed "Michael Fish" Skills was the dissenting voice. It never rains at Stonegate he entoned, like a slightly deranged member of the flat earth society, and we could easily get in a proper game. 50 overs a side easily. Weather websites are shit, the BBC hasn't got a clue and the fact that the sky was already heavy, grey and leaden with moisture was simply a figment of everyone elses imagination. It was a bit like being in the crowd at the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima in 1917 and saying "that's just a peasant bird trying to get home". " No, it was Our Lady", replied thirty thousand faithful people.
Anyway, as players gathered at Oneish, already adorned by at least two sweaters and a Kagool, it was decided to go for a twenty twenty match to try and slip one in before it really starts to rain.
Ed "Bill Giles" Skills went along with this startling piece of collective logic, lost the toss, and we were in the field. John Kettley took the gloves, as jamie m was taken ill, and apart from a dropped catch, a huge six and a wicket, nothing much happened in the first over. The Moose batted in a manner more fitting of a 5 over slog and wickets fell, without huge amounts of runs being scored. Felix K, Fred K, Paul K (so many bloody Keelings), Dave Ansell and Seb Phillips all strived magnificently but it was the arrival of Toby Clifton which swung the innings our way. Remarkable stats of 4 overs, 4 wickets for 8 runs, including a six, and two hattrick balls, ensued. Not bad for a young lad, just starting out on his cricketing career. Good luck Tobes with the winter training programme too.
The Moose ended up on 111 from their twenty overs and I would add my hearty congrats to Fred Talbot behind the stumps for both his keeping and captaincy. Its just such a shame he is so crap at his day job, namely forecasting the weather.
Tea was to be taken at the end of the game, such was the intensity of the grey clouds by this stage, but our captain, Peter Cockcroft, was still of the view that we should have batted on for another 30 overs. Oh well. Too late now. We gotta bat,
Ross opened with Ansell and was soon ducking and diving out of the way of some hostile opening bowling from Ogden Jr and a very tall, strong muscley guy with black hair. Ansell went early, but Ross and PK added 40 odd. They both went around the 50 mark and it was left to Seb Phillips and Felix K to steer us home with about 4 overs to spare.
A fine victory over a very useful, young Moose team. A fine tea followed, thanks to Carole and Mark, and all was well.
By this stage the widely forecast rain had now arrived and one would have expected our skipper, Ian McCaskill, to now accept that the decision to play a short format was an inspired piece of visionary thinking. But no. Penny Tranter wanted to wait for the shower to pass and then play the other half!! But by this stage, Fish's weather forecasting skills had been so widely discounted, that everyone just left and went straight to the pub...... Where we stayed for a while, watching the driving rain lash down and the puddles become biblical rivers of life giving fluid.
As we swam to our cars to attempt the highly risky journey home across the flooded plains of south east england, Teddy could be heard telling May that it never rains at Stonegate and why the hell did we have to mess around with the long accepted format of cricket we all know and love.
Thank you to everyone who has made this such a good and enjoyable season and a particularly honourable mention to Toby Mynott who played 4 times and didn't bat or bowl once. Sorry Tobes.
Yours, from behind sandbags, Paul Rx
What an embarrassment of riches, not one, but two match reports within 24hrs.
ReplyDeleteI certainly came better out of one than the other.
Was it worth the ridicule I knew would be mine for the cat in hells chance that it would not rain before 7pm? Of course it was, always and forever.
Great victory over the Moose to end the season, and for the first time since the resurrection of the fixture. And to those that said to the Moose, perhaps to make then feel better about being whipped so comprehensively, 'Of course as it was a T20 it doesn't have any bearing on assessing the relative quality of the teams.' Fuck that! We were the better team in every department, but most importantly as a team and in spirit. Huzzar for the Rascals, and onwards and upwards towards 2014.
teddy x