Long Sutton vs Wield, Sunday 16th June
Weather - A lot better than forecast
Match summary – 9 men and quick singles win the day!
Without a single Robson available for selection, Wield’s resources were sadly depleted, although average height considerably improved. A change of venue, meant that Wield were on one of its few road trips of the season, and so, after a politely late arrival, the skippers agreed a 35 limited over contest, in which Wield would field first.
Wield took to the field with nine men, shortly to be augmented by a tenth kindly donated by the opposition. Despite this, rarely can Wield have had a better start to an innings. First Ken picked up two wickets, followed shortly by Scott with another two, and the opposition were reeling at 20-4 after the first 10 overs. More remarkable was that all 4 wickets were smart catches ‘in the ring’ including one for Robin, diving (yes diving) to his right. Any outsider would have been given the misleading impression that we were a well drilled side.
That same outsider would only need to hang around a short while longer to have any such illusions dispelled. Having seemingly caught everything that got more than 6 inches off the ground in the first 10 overs, Wield then proceeded to spill everything over the next 15.
The opposition sensed our fallibility, so their batsmen chanced their arm, lofting ball after ball into gaps and into hands (only for it to fall out again). The run fest continued a pace with the fifth wicket partnership taking the total to near 100 in what seemed very little time.
The tide however eventually turned, when in an inspired piece of captaincy, Tim was dispatched to cow-corner, and with the very next delivery the batsman duly picked him out on the boundary. As the ball sailed in his direction, nobody was very hopeful of a successful outcome, but after misjudging the flight, Tim fell to the ground, threw all four limbs and a fair amount of stomach at the ball, and got it lodged somewhere in his anatomy. Nobody was very sure whether the catch had been taken (including Tim we suspect), until the fielder raised his arms in celebration whilst still prostrate on the ground.
This seemed to galvanise the team and from this moment, catches started to be caught, wickets fell with regularity and eventually the opposition ended their innings on a very decent 172-9.
Ben and debutant Tim opened Wield’s reply, and immediately showed Wields intent by keeping pace with the run rate from the outset. Ben dispatched any loose delivery to the boundary, while Tim pushed singles at the other end. The quick start was brought to an end when Ben departed after toe-ending an edge to the keeper, with the score on 30.
Will maintained the early momentum with a brisk 17 while Tim pushed singles at the other end. Josh was next to the wicket, struck a single boundary, and then returned to the pavilion while Tim pushed singles at the other end.
Scott’s entry to the fray ushered in Wields most productive period. Some excellent (and some less than excellent) running between the wickets, plus some lusty blows from Scott, kept the board ticking over while Tim pushed singles at the other end. Scott’s brisk innings came to a shuddering halt when one pushed single too many ended with him being run out after a despairing lunge.
Ken was next in the middle, and surprisingly managed to keep things moving with a fine array of edges and ugly hoicks. This cameo of 16 ended after missing a straight one with a hoick so ugly; it should have had a paper bag over its head. Tim meanwhile kept his head and pushed singles at the other end. Kens departure brought the timely arrival of some quality to the wicket in the form of Wields skipper. Never panicked, never alarmed, Yorkie kept the scoring going and kept Wield within sight of its target. Tim meanwhile, having run so many singles that he could barely walk or breathe, decided at last to score in higher denominations. He duly brought up his maiden Wield 50 with a well struck four to long leg, which at the same time brought Wield to within 10 of its target with 2 overs to go. Any expectation of a dramatic Wield collapse were soon erased as the skipper caressed two boundaries in the next over to secure a handsome victory with an over to spare.
So, a win, a diving catch for Robin and a 50 on debut for Tim.
Playing with 11 is overrated!
Ken Thomas
