Wield vs Rioteers, Sunday 5th September
Weather: Blustery coming sub-arctic
Disclaimer: In common with most games of cricket I play I can remember almost nothing about the match only a few days afterwards. So I am relying on the few stats Tony kindly e-mailed to me.
Wield to field! Now there’s a surprise. Unusually however, we had a fairly respectable bowling attack. Our open bowlers weren’t even off spinners! And so an unusual match began…
Ken and Dave opened the bowling, delivering 17 overs without a change! Surely the longest spells by opening bowlers ever at Wield? Though Ken claimed the sole early wicket, the pair kept a lid on the Rioteers scoring for the first hour of the innings. As the cricket slowly meandered on, I dreamt of somewhere warmer, Jack Gibbons started smuggling peanuts and the jumper-less Robin wondered what all the fuss was about.
Dougie was brought on, and the usual spirit of peace and harmony could be felt around the ground. He worked the angles to get a well earned wicket, at figures I would be proud of, with the batsmen getting 34 runs off his 5 overs. From there our dear leader gave a captain’s spell with the ball, only dismissing the one batsmen but keeping a lid on the opposition scoring with a miserly 9 overs.
Continuing the longest streak since Erica Roe, Robin then came on to snaffle 4 more wickets and after last weeks 5 for was delighted as our ringer (Peter this time) came on and took the last 2 wickets sparing Robin's blushes (and pocket).
End result…Rioteers bowled out for 139-allowing us to have tea 15 minutes early. Perfect.
‘The future’ soon became the present as Ben and Peter opened the Wield innings. Both were bowled, Peter to a ball that had earthworms scurrying for cover, and Ben to a genuinely good ball that he played all round. Enter Dougie! First ball- boundary. Soon followed by a text book leave to a ball that…was going to hit off stump. LBW for 4. Dissent followed. George started his innings as Dougie had, with the ball racing to the boundary. However, after such a fantastic start he soon remembered his recent lack of form, started complaining about his eyesight, and was promptly bowled for 19.
With Johnny out quickly and Ken run out for 9 all eyes turned to the unlikely batting hero of Jack Gibbons (previous top score, 18). After he hit his first ball he told me; ‘I haven’t played for months, I feel really unstable’. Well, as with all artists, instability brings success. And so it was with Gibbons.
Fifty-one runs later (A performance more surprising than something that was very surprising) and ably supported by Andy Yorke’s 23 not out the match was won by 4 wickets.
With the last match of the season will the wickets fall faster than the autumn leaves? Will Max’s knees freeze up like the first frosts? Or will Wield have a last glorious victory?
Call Andy to play and be a part of local folklore in the making!
Ben Robinson
