The first day of the RUASCC cricket season! Oh, how long we have waited! At 8am on Sunday morning this report writer woke up and threw open the curtains to let in the glorious sunshine, only to discover it was absolutely crashing down with rain.
Not to be deterred, we were rewarded by the first glimpse of blue sky on arrival in Farley Hill and the match started on time, Eagle winning the all important toss and politely suggesting to the home skipper that perhaps they might want to bat first.
As can happen early in the season, both Withers and Jagesh seemed to be lacking in line, length, pace and indeed any form of control whatsoever. Withers went for a six in his second over and the opening partnership had made it past 50 with some more lofted shots before first change Koslicki found an edge and Jagesh took a good catch falling to his left (and almost crushing Rahul) in the gully.
Zia replaced Withers and went for two sixes to the same short boundary before the right-handed opener reached his fifty and retired knackered. Koslicki took his second wicket, trapping the new man LBW in front of Umpire Sewell, but Farley were still looking comfortable at 106-2.
Koslicki (2-50) made way for some off-spin from Ward who broke through in his second over, bowling a beauty through the gate to peg back the leg stump. Then Jagesh returned and took a wicket in quite spectacular fashion: a huge lofted on-drive almost – ALMOST – made it to the boundary, but only nestled perfectly into the left hand of Dr Eagle who clearly had as much trouble as everyone else believing what had just happened.
Withers was given another couple of overs but was hit for a straight six not just into the next field but into the field after that as Farley thundered on towards 200. The final over of the innings was bowled by 9-year-old Rahul Patel who cemented his place as the best left-arm spinner at the club. He took a well-deserved first wicket when the batsman unwisely danced down the track and missed the ball with every fibre of his being.
That was enough for Farley and they declared on 206-5 from 37 overs.
The RUASCC reply began as RUASCC replies often do: the first three runs provided by extras, three consecutive maidens from one end and an opening partnership of six. Ward was the first man to go, well caught at mid-on by the home captain for 2.
Zia, promoted to bat at number three, put on 48 in exciting fashion with Eagle. Both men played with confidence and flair – Eagle moved his feet well and drove freely and Zia hit one six into the road on his way to 25 before falling LBW (which was OK because he had to leave early anyway).
New batsman Carpenter played some fine shots of his own before holing out to the only man at very deep mid-wicket. Dip, troubled by a back injury, limped along to 4 before skying one to the keeper who made no mistake running to his left. By this time the heavens had opened again but even some very heavy showers couldn’t deter the brave cricketers. The scorer hid in the pavilion because he’s not stupid.
Eagle was next to go, finally mis-timing a drive to mid-off for 37 – an acceptable start to the season despite his assessment that a fifty was there for the taking. As Very Young Rahul joined Young Sam at the crease hopes for a winning chase were starting to fade – and they evaporated entirely when Sam found the man at deep cover (who spoiled what would have been a wonderful flat six) and Rahul edged to slip for a duck leaving RUASCC more than 60 to reach with only three wickets remaining.
Dersh went out to bat then returned to the pavilion without facing a ball – an arm injury hadn’t healed as well as had been hoped – and Jagesh somehow contrived to divert a painfully slow long hop onto his stumps with nine balls of the match remaining. It was left to Withers (0) and Koslicki (8) to see out the match with minimal fuss and earn the draw. 151-8 from 41 overs.
An encouraging start but the bowling will need to improve against Blewbury this Sunday.
RUASCC Highlight: Either Eagle’s outrageous catch or Rahul’s maiden wicket. I think they’ll have to share.
RUASCC Man of the Match: Eagle and Zia both batted very well, but for taking two wickets and seeing out the match: Ben Koslicki.
RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), Zia, Carpenter, Dip, Griffiths (wkt), Rahul, Dersh, Koslicki, Jagesh, Withers
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