Greys Green (A) – 22.5.10

In complete contrast to our previous match we arrived in Greys in glorious sunshine and enjoyed the sort of day when it’s a pleasure to play cricket regardless of the result. This is perhaps just as well because we lost by six wickets.

Considering the heat it was something of a surprise when Trant (who lost the toss again) was asked to bat first. Ward and Eagle looked to carry on their good form and each hit early boundaries before Eagle was bowled by a stump-high full toss for 7. Baker and Ward soon got on top of the often erratic quick bowlers, dispatching the short stuff and the full tosses with equal conviction, and Ward battered a six into the road, a fact which was temporarily overlooked by the sun-roasted scorer.

The pair added 63 for the second wicket before Ward (30) prodded at one outside off-stump and was caught at slip. Then, as quite often happens, 77-2 soon became 106-5 as the first change bowlers recovered the situation - Baker was caught behind for 37 and both Dersh and Stewart were bowled for considerably fewer.

Greenhalf (batting with a broken arm) took a hearty swing at just about everything that came his way and his partnership with Young Sam briefly seemed to be getting the innings back on track. Despite taking a while to get off the mark, Sam’s trademark drives took him into double figures before he was trapped LBW and Greenhalf had offered a few chances before his luck ran out and he was caught on the fine leg boundary. Seven wickets down and only 140 on the board.

At this stage nine-year-old Rahul Patel was batting with fifty-nine-year-old Tranter and the senior partner chipped a few boundaries before he took a swing at a straight one and missed. Ashman’s castle soon suffered a similar fate and that brought last man Withers to the crease for the final three overs. A mad dash for runs didn’t really materialise as the ever-watchful Rahul and the stroke-free number 11 had to settle mostly for singles and byes to nudge RUASCC’s total up to 170-9.

At 4pm, with cloudless skies above and the sun still cooking the pitch, we stopped for a high quality tea including chicken sandwiches, egg sandwiches (she wouldn’t say which were made first) and a variety of cakes and fresh fruits. The opening bowler is wise to exercise some self-restraint when faced with such a feast.

Still slightly-hungry, Withers opened the bowling with a maiden to a rather tentative left-hander then proceeded to bowl another five very similar overs to the same batsman, beating the outside edge nearly seven thousand times. Meanwhile Baker was treated more harshly by the other opener who did at least look like he’d held a bat before.

Finally the batsmen crossed and Withers had his first look at the right-hander. Three balls later he was gone - a low full toss top-edged high in the air was taken safely by Young Sam with the gloves. The new man, a fidgety cross-bat merchant, pulled a couple of well-timed fours and defended with extravagance before he played across the line to Johnny Baker’s quicker ball and lost a stump. With 20 overs to go Greys still needed 130 runs to win and no one really looked as if they would lift the run-rate.

As Withers continued to probe outside the lefty’s off-stump, two quite catchable catches went uncaught (Eagle and Tranter the culprits) while the occasional loose full toss was slapped away over the leg-side. Eventually it was down to the Good Dr Ashman to find a way through, breaking the resistance and bowling him for a painful 28.

By now trouble was brewing at the other end: a real batsman had settled in and was starting to hit things quite hard. Dersh conceded twenty-plus runs from his three overs before Tranter’s solitary over went for four hundred and sixty seven. The required rate dropped to just four an over and although Baker returned with a maiden (and a wicket, bowling the destroyer-in-chief for 74) Greys marched into the final over needing only four to win, achieving it in one ball.

So, a defeat by six wickets, but also an excellent tanning session and a good warm-up for those of us who head into tomorrow’s fixture at Theale full of confidence that RUASCC’s first win in 2010 is likely to arrive in the next few months or so.

RUASCC Highlight: Ward’s six was memorable, partly because it was instantly forgotten.

RUASCC Man of the Match: He top-scored with 37; he bowled 16 overs in energy-sapping heat taking 2-40; he suffered cramp in his calf muscle and was forced to leave the field and eat crisps. Stand up (if you can): Johnny Baker.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle, Baker, Dersh, Stewart, Griffiths (wkt), Greenhalf, Rahul Patel, Tranter (capt), Ashman, Withers